Things which are done contrary to the custom and usage of our ancestors neither please nor appear right.

Explanation

(English-origin maxim.) Innovations that contradict established ancestral practice are presumptively disfavored — cite this to challenge novel government procedures that depart from long-standing customary due process of law.

Where this applies

• A state legislature eliminates the right of jury trial in certain civil cases, but the court strikes the law because it departs from the ancestral practice of trial by jury that has existed since Magna Carta.
• A new administrative rule requires defendants to prove their innocence rather than placing the burden on the prosecution, and the court rejects it as contrary to the long-standing custom of presumption of innocence.
• A county introduces a process where property can be seized without a prior hearing, and a landowner challenges it as a departure from the traditional requirement of due process before deprivation.