Maritime Law, Kangaroo Court Tribunal Proceedings (Sir Thomas More)

Sir Thomas More PC (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, amateur theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord High Chancellor of England from October 1529 to May 1532. He wrote Utopia, published in 1516, which describes the political system of an imaginary island state.

In the Hollywood film "A Man for All Seasons", silence is powerful, but only because it is open to interpretation. Thomas More uses silence as a tool to protect himself and his family, believing that silence is truly neutral. By speaking, he knows he will incriminate himself, whereas by keeping silent he hopes to remain innocent in the eyes of the law.

The jury took only fifteen minutes to find More guilty.

After the jury's verdict was delivered and before his sentencing, Thomas More spoke freely of his belief that "no temporal man may be the head of the spirituality" (take over the role of the Pope). According to William Roper's account, More was pleading that the Statute of Supremacy was contrary to Magna Carta, to Church laws and to the laws of England, attempting to void the entire indictment against him. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered (the usual punishment for traitors who were not the nobility), but the King commuted this to execution by decapitation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_More

Catholic Church:
Pope Leo XIII beatified Thomas More, John Fisher, and 52 other English Martyrs on 29 December 1886. Pope Pius XI canonized More and Fisher on 19 May 1935, and More's feast day was established as 9 July. Since 1970 the General Roman Calendar has celebrated More with St John Fisher on 22 June (the date of Fisher's execution). On 31 October 2000 Pope John Paul II declared More "the heavenly Patron of Statesmen and Politicians". More is the patron of the German Catholic youth organization Katholische Junge Gemeinde.

It is reported that the canonization ceremony was greeted with a "minimal and hostile" treatment by the British press, and officially boycotted by the parliament and universities.