Issue in Depth from JUSTICE BLIND?

ISSUE IN DEPTH: An Example (copyright, Prentice-Hall, 2002)

Issue in Depth 1: The Lady Justice

The lady justice on the cover of this book has a name. The figure, named “Justitia” after the Roman goddess of justice, may have its origins in the Greek mythological goddess Themis (who is considered the goddess of divine justice) and her daughter Dike (Hansen, 1999). She has also appeared in Christian imagery “as a personification of the ancient virtue” of justice (Curtis and Resnick, 1987: 1729). Justitia has outlasted symbols of every other virtue of humankind: “show us a hulking woman with scales, blindfold, and sword, and the association is immediate: Justice” (Curtis and Resnick, 1987: 1733). What is the significance of the symbol of lady justice?

The most common understanding of this symbol today is that the figure of “a blindfolded woman with a scale in one hand and a sword in the other” demonstrates that we are dedicated to treating all Americans with “fairness, equity” and in a manner that is right (Kappeler et al. 2000: 215). Such a figure implies that the imposition of justice will not be affected by demographic characteristics such as race, social class, or gender. In essence, according to the myth of Justitia, everyone deserves equal justice: “Justitia is blindfolded so that she may be impartial” (Curtis and Resnick, 1987: 1727). Hansen (1999: 1) explains that she is a symbol of “the fair and equal administration of the law, without corruption, avarice, prejudice, or favor.”
What follows is a summary of six main points about the lady justice made by Dennis Curtis and Judith Resnick (1987), published in the Yale Law Journal. Consider these points when deciding for yourself what “justice blind” is supposed to mean.

** Justitia is not always depicted as blind.
At many times in history, Justitia simply wears no blindfold and stares forward. In other depictions, her eyes can be seen beneath or through wide spaces in a blindfold. It is claimed that the appearance of Justitia’s blindfold “coincided with the establishment of professional, independent judges, who stood apart from the sovereign and were not simply acting at its behest” ( p. 1757). Thus, justice was seen as being carried out neither in the interests of the powerful nor in fear of the powerful. An alternative conception of the blindfold is discussed below.

** Justitia typically carries scales.
The meaning of her scales may be traced back to the Egyptian Book of the Dead (ca. 1400 B.C.), the Old Testament (Job 31: 6), and to weighing as a symbol of judgment in the Koran. Clearly, scales imply some type of weighing, although there is disagreement about what is to be weighed. The most commonly accepted meaning of the scales is that “each man receives that which is due him, no more and no less” (p. 1749).

** Justitia also is commonly depicted holding a sword.
The significance of the sword, like the blindfold, is not clear. Yet, most agree that the sword is a symbol of the power of Justitia to condemn or punish those who “fail in their public duties” (p. 1744). It “represents the rigor of justice, which does not hesitate to punish” (p. 1749).

** Justitia has been depicted with other ambiguous items, including a cornucopia, a fasces (bundle of rods), a scepter, books, a human skull, an ostrich or a crane, and a dog and snake.
The meaning of these symbols is not clear, because some claim them to have positive meanings while others suggest negative meanings. For example, is the ostrich a symbol of gluttony (an ostrich will eat anything before it), or of valor and endurance (its diet might even include metal)? An ostrich puts its head in the sand. Is this an indication of forgetfulness or stupidity? Or is the ostrich another symbol of impartiality, since its feathers are so evenly distributed across its body? (p. 1742). No one can know for sure the significance of these items when they are included. Most illustrations of Justitia do not contain such items.

** Justitia may create a false impression of what justice is.
The more negative images of Justitia have been relegated to archives, while the more common images of Justitia in white robes, with the blindfold, scales, and sword adorn courthouses and other government buildings in the United States. Many of us have never become aware of some grotesque images of Justitia, or they have disappeared from our consciousness. For example, Justitia has been depicted without hands, which may suggest that she will avoid accepting bribes or punishing the guilty too brutally (p. 1754). Other images of Justitia surrounded by severed human heads are also generally unrecognizable. It is possible that our current conception of justice is thus sanitized so that only positive images come to mind in the presence of Justitia.

An alternative view of Justitia is: “Sword and scales need not only remind us that Justice can be powerful and correct; they can also be interpreted as indications of Justice as harsh, unsympathetic, and unyielding.” And the blindfold may be interpreted as an indication that justice is blind – to abuses which occur right under her own nose. It may thus suggest “a failure to see the truth” (p. 1756). Perhaps the blindfold symbolizes her limitations or is even a censure for past faults. Or “is she blindfolded not to see the many injuries imposed in her name?” (p. 1757).

For these reasons, Gottfredson (1999: 21) argues that the blindfold should be removed from figures showing Justitia. He writes: “Much of the criticism of the criminal justice system concerns a perceived lack of fairness and evenhandedness in decisions about accused and convicted offenders. The blindfold makes a good point, but it should be removed.” Gottfredson suggests that with “eyes open,” Justitia will be able to assure that American justice will be fair, ethically sound, and more effective.

** Justitia is a symbol used by the powerful to justify their actions in the name of “Justice”
For example, when a person is convicted of a crime by a jury of his or her peers, the government is granted the right to punish the person: “The imposition of judgment, with its requisite violence, is an essential, inevitable aspect of governance. How convenient, how distancing from human subjectivity and fallibility, if such decisions go forth in the name of Justice” (p. 1748).

No other cardinal or theological virtue is essential to the acts of lawmakers and law enforcers exact justice: “All sovereigns claim (notwithstanding evidence to the contrary) that their violence goes forth in the name of Justice.” Clearly, humankind is fallible – we make mistakes. In the name of justice and its implied partiality, governments have and will continue to use force against its citizens, restrict liberty of its citizens, and even execute its citizens (p. 1734). The “conscious use of justice imagery by governments” may be an effort by them to “legitimate their exercises of power by associating themselves with the concept of justice” (p. 1743). In some ways, Justitia is “propaganda” to reassure Americans that actions of the government are in line with a “higher right” (p. 1746).

Images of justice may “teach, inspire, pacify, or otherwise influence viewers” (p. 1743). In America, Justitia suggests to young people that America is a fair country. It inspires us as a symbol of dedication against vices and injustices. It can pacify us, as well, for in the presence of Justitia, we may assume that our government is just even in the face of conflicting evidence which suggests that it is not. We may tend to ignore very conspicuous injustices, perhaps because we are forced to accept the judgements of powerful people in the name of justice (p. 1767).

Whatever Justitia is really intended to mean, I concur with Dennis Curtis and Judith Resnick (1987: 1764) when they write, “our hopes that justice ... simultaneously be attuned to individual nuances and be evenhanded; that objectivity and subjectivity both be present; that justice know all that is needed but not know that which might corrupt or unfairly influence; that justice be rigorous in its equality yet ‘now and then’ relax in compassion.”

This book assumes that American criminal justice should be blind to factors such as race, gender, and social class, thus the cover of the book is adorned by a blindfolded lady justice. Throughout the book, I examine how well the American criminal justice system achieves its goals of doing justice and reducing crime. The main concern is, “how just is American criminal justice?” That is, “Is justice really blind?”

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