Thomas Jefferson warned that just one single step beyond the limits of the Constitution is one too many.
That’s because when the government crosses that line, it unlocks a virtually unlimited reservoir of power.
“To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition.“
That’s the danger of precedent. One thing leads to another. St George Tucker explained exactly how it plays out.
“The most unauthorized acts of government may be drawn into precedents to justify other unwarrantable usurpations.”
We see this virtually every day as one politician after another justifies this or that government action by claiming, “So-and-so did it first!”
But Thomas Paine called this VILE.
He characterized a system where the government does things not because it is authorized, but because someone got away with it first, “one of the vilest systems that can be set up.”
Instead of using precedent as an excuse to do more, Paine argued that it should be taken as a warning. He said it should be “shunned instead of imitated.” But we usually get the opposite, where “precedents are taken in the lump, and put at once for constitution and for law.”
Here at the Tenth Amendment Center, we’re committed to holding the line and opposing not only the first step, but every unconstitutional precedent. But we can’t unravel decades of precedent without your help.
👉 JOIN TAC, SUPPORT LIBERTY
👉 Make a One-Time Donation
John Dickinson also warned about precedent, observing that it usually starts with politicians who intentionally twist the meaning of the rules.
“All artful rulers, who strive to extend their power beyond its just limits, endeavor to give to their attempts as much semblance of legality as possible.”
Once they set a precedent, it starts the cycle of tyranny. “Those who succeed them may venture to go a little further; for each new encroachment will be strengthened by a former.”
This sets in motion a chain reaction, with each new encroachment supported by precedent becoming yet another precedent that “will become an example itself and thus support fresh usurpations.”
Dickinson warned that this chain of precedent and usurpation also changes the attitudes of the people, making them more prone to accept new abuses of power.
“When an act injurious to freedom has been once done, and the people bear it, the repetition of it is most likely to meet with submission.”
And submission is yet another dangerous precedent. As James Otis Jr. warned, “So long as people will submit to arbitrary measures, so long will they find masters.”
- One Step is a Step Too Far - February 28, 2026
- Freedom Isn’t Granted: It’s Exercised and Defended - February 18, 2026
- Who’s in Charge? The Founders on Sovereignty - February 4, 2026