Lady Justice

 

[NOTE - this post was published on the day that the verdict in the George Floyd murder case was announced.]

The symbol of "Lady Justice" is a personification of principles of public justice that has origins in Roman mythology and has been on display at least since the time of Christ, with some elements dating back to ancient Egypt. The common elements of the depiction are scales (to measure the relative merits of support and opposition in a case), a sword (exercise of authority), and a blindfold (symbol of impartiality). Variations of this allegorical symbol can be found today in representations around the world - see attached images.

Compared to the scale and sword, the blindfold is a relatively new addition; the first appearance is on a statue in a public fountain in Berne, Switzerland in 1543. Probably the idea of impartiality was implied by the balance scale, which should weigh the evidence objectively, especially in the hands of a young maiden. But the blindfold is a more forceful representation of the concept that nothing in the accused person's appearance should have any influence in the eventual decision, including social status, national origin, gender, etc.

Many of us have recognized that the blindfold has not been functioning well in our society. It's probably an idealistic dream to think we could have a perfectly fair, impartial system. But dreams are good things to have, if we work towards them.

As one small example, consider the advantage the rich have over the poor - they can afford the best attorneys, private investigators, influential "experts" to support their case. But the poor often end up with court-appointed attorneys who often are badly overworked and unmotivated, and sometimes completely incompetent. In addition, one analysis I read said that more than 95% of court cases are resolved with plea bargains, and the poor are much more likely to accept that kind of resolution because they can't afford the cost to fight; so the wealthy have a much better chance to have charges dropped in actual trials or judgments. How to correct imbalance between wealth and poverty in the justice system is very difficult.

But the evidence is clear that justice is not applied equally, at all stages of the criminal justice system, due to other factors, including nationality and race. Facts supporting this problem have been made more clear to most of us in the past year. That is a challenge that we hope to make greater progress on, collectively and individually.

I #GiveThanks for the inspired concept that "all men are created equal" by God, and for the dream that we all treat one another that way. We need to start as individuals by fully implementing that concept to the best of our understanding, including forcing ourselves to reconsider our actions and overcome unjustified preconceptions and prejudices. We need to be more aware of what is happening around us, and be willing to speak up when we see injustice. We need to be more aggressive in reaching out, sincerely, to those in our midst who have significant differences, so we can come to understand their challenges better. And we need to recognize and accept that the problems faced by racial and ethnic groups are very real, even when we have never experienced them ourselves.

It's a blessing to have our eyes opened to the problems that exist, so that we can respond with change.

The 1543 statue, part of the Fountain of Justice in Berne, Switzerland -
first to depict Justice with a blindfold

A statue at the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong