The Back Alley Archives

Lady Justice is normally depicted with a sword in one hand, a scale in the other, and blindfolded. The scale is representative of Justice weighing both sides equally under law while the blindfold is to represent the law being carried out objectively and without favoritism or impartialism.

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I think it is amazing at how symbolic this single graphical depiction of justice is. It judges without fear or favor because it cannot tell who it is judging. Evidence is quite simply placed into the scale and she weighs them and decides what the outcome is in accordance with the law is. In essence, it is the scale that decides, not her.

Fast forward to 2009 and we now have President Obama saying that he wants a new Justice that holds the following qualities.

Obama said he valued the ‘quality of empathy’ and was hopeful of finding a new justice who would reflect on people’s ‘hopes and struggles’ in the process of arriving at legal decisions.

I am sure that this does not alarm many people out there, but it does me. Essentially what this means is that when you step into a court room, you are stepping into room where they judge and rule upon how well you can emotionally move them, not how your situation applies to the laws on the book. In simple terms, you will not be convicted (or your defendant will not be found guilty) based on laws but rather flippiant emotions.

It is noteworthy to mention that the outside of the Supreme Court it reads, “EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW” not “EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER EMOTION AND EMPATHY.”

equal_justice_under_law

Maybe Lady Justice should put down her scale and just sit there and see who moves her emotionally instead of weighing the law.

Without law, we have nothing folks.