“Jurors have found, again and again, and at critical moments, according to what is their sense of the rational and just. If their sense of justice has gone one way, and the case another, they have found "against the evidence," ... the English common law rests upon a bargain between the Law and the people: The jury box is where the people come into the court: The judge watches them and the people watch back. A jury is the place where the bargain is struck. The jury attends in judgment, not only upon the accused, but also upon the justice and the humanity of the Law.” PeopleIfsWayMomentsLawHumanityFoundJusticeCommonWatchesCasesGoneJudgingJudgmentEvidenceCourtBoxesCriticalRationalOne WayAgain And AgainAccusedJuryBargainsCommon LawJurorsCritical Moments Author:E. P. Thompson
“The people who hanged Christ never, to do them justice, accused Him of being a bore - on the contrary; they thought Him too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround Him with an atmosphere of tedium.” PeopleHas BeensJesusLeftChristJusticeGenerationsPersonalitySafeJesus ChristContraryAtmosphereSurroundBoresAccusedShatteringTediumDynamic Personality Author:Dorothy L. Sayers
“The function of the prosecutor under the federal Constitution is not to tack as many skins of victims as possible against the wall. His function is to vindicate the rights of the people as expressed in the laws and give those accused of crime a fair trial.” PeopleGivingLawJusticeRightsCrimeWallFairsSkinsFunctionConstitutionVictimTrialsAccusedCriminal JusticeProsecutorFair Trial Author:William O. Douglas
“Justice, though due to the accused, is due the accuser also. The concept of fairness cannot be strained till it is narrowed to a filament. We are to keep our balance true.” JusticeBalanceConceptsDuesFairnessAccusedAccusers Author:Benjamin Cardozo
“Every court of criminal justice must have the power of correcting the greatest and dangerous of all abuses of the forms of law - that of the protracted imprisonment of the accused, untried, perhaps not intended ever to be tried, it may be, not informed of the nature of the charge against him, or the name of the accuser.” MayFormLawNamesJusticeDangerousAbuseCourtCriminalsAccusedImprisonmentCriminal JusticeCorrectingAccusers Author:David Hume
“No system of criminal justice can, or should, survive if it comes to depend for its continued effectiveness on the citizens' abdication through unawareness of their constitutional rights. No system worth preserving should have to fear that if an accused is permitted to consult with a lawyer, he will become aware of, and exercise, these rights.” IfsShouldJusticeRightsDependsCitizensExerciseShould HaveCriminalsLawyerAccusedEffectivenessCriminal JusticeConstitutional RightsUnawarenessAbdication Author:Arthur Goldberg