Blind justice (concept)

Blind justice (concept)

Blind Justice is the theory that law should be viewed objectively. That means that determination of innocence or guilt should be made without bias or prejudice. It is the idea behind the United States Supreme Court motto “Equal Justice Under Law”. However, it has not always been indicative of fairness. Blind Justice is by nature an antilogy.

In ancient times an administrator would hear a charge and dispense the law as written. The Hammurabi code is probably the oldest and most famous example of what was called lex talionis, or an eye for an eye. The accused would literally sit behind a blind and an official would declare a pre-determined punishment without influence of opinion on the individual. Neither would that official have knowledge of the details of the alleged crime. The presumption of guilt was automatic. Punishment was often draconian and unavoidable.

Justice that is blind to both circumstance and status can have an oppressive effect. It is therefore prudent for a jurist to be both judge and mitigator of circumstance. It is commonly agreed in modern times that status of the accused should not be considered. In this way justice becomes pragmatic, progressive and liberal.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Blind Justice — (concept) is a legal concept regarding the neutrality of the dispensing of justice.It can also refer to:* Blind Justice (film), a 1994 HBO TV movie starring Armand Assante * Blind Justice (novel), a 1995 novel by Bruce Alexander * Blind Justice… …   Wikipedia

  • Blind Justice (TV series) — Blind Justice is an American television series about a blind New York City police detective, created by Steven Bochco. It was introduced mid season in March 2005 to fill the time slot left by Bochco s highly successful NYPD Blue , which had just… …   Wikipedia

  • Blind test — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Blind test (homonymie). Le Blind Test est un jeu où vous devez deviner l interprète, le titre ou l année d un morceau à partir d un enregistrement musical. Le terme, qui en anglais décrit une méthode d expérience …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building — U.S. Historic district Contributing property …   Wikipedia

  • Max Scheler's Concept of Ressentiment — Max Scheler (1874 1928) Max Scheler (1874–1928) was both the most respected and neglected of the major early 20th century German Continental philosophers in the phenomenological tradition.[1] His observations and insights concerning a special… …   Wikipedia

  • Natural Justice — is a charity that does research on the causes of criminal behavior, and especially on the related effects of nutrition. Natural Justice carried out an experiment in the Aylesbury Prison for young offenders. In this study, published in 2002,… …   Wikipedia

  • Judge Dredd — This article is about the comic book character. For the performer, see Judge Dread. For the forthcoming film, see Dredd. Judge Dredd Cover to 2000 AD prog 168 Art by Mike McMahon …   Wikipedia

  • Nicomachean Ethics — Part of a series on Aristotle …   Wikipedia

  • Eye for an eye — The phrase an eye for an eye , (, ). Assuming the fulfillment of certain technical criteria (such as the sentencing of the accused whose punishment was not yet executed), wherever it is possible to punish the conspirators with the exact same… …   Wikipedia

  • Batman (1989 film) — Batman Theatrical release poster Directed by Tim Burton Produced by Peter …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”