Chapter 16 Part III

Law versus Justice

Links to Part I and Part II

The judge stopped. Under the protective gaze of his ancestor, the two men formed a mass as expressionless and solid as the carved totem poles from Washington territory. “I have an abolitionist in my midst?” 

“I am a man who believes in justice.” 

“I believe in the law, Mr. Royer.” 

“The law is not the same as justice,” Jude firmly stated.

The judge’s fingertips came together again. “A very interesting perspective. The law is not the same as justice? There are those who agree with you. I rule by the law, and you would rather prefer a world ruled by justice? Because, Mr. Royer, justice can be a dangerous creature. Is that what you want?”

Jude Royer thought of the fear of revenge and the Aeschylus plays and spotted a flaw in the Goddess Athena placing justice under the law. It’d seemed so sensible when Ernst explained it, using the law to curb the dangerous passions of revenge. But why had he not noticed it before?

“The law is a creation of man and subject to man’s fallacies, but justice is not the creation of man,” he said. “Justice must supersede the law.”  

Jude had no idea where these thought came from, even if he didn’t believe it was the Greek gods and their higher reasoning, but he knew it was true. At least he wanted it to be true.  

He stared at Judge Harwood, noting how much like a spider the man resembled, with his gangly body, long arms and fingers as thin and bent as a Daddy-Long-Legs.  

The spider and the fly, the old colored woman had said back. Only a week and day had passed since she visited his office but it already seemed like a lifetime ago.

“Mr. Royer, what is justice?” 

The judge’s question caught Jude off guard. He paused, putting aside distracting thoughts and staring at the totem pole’s unblinking faces.  

The judge pressed him. “Come, Mr. Royer. You brought up the topic. You say you believe in justice, but where does your justice come from? If justice is not the creation of man, does it devolve from a higher authority? God? And if your justice is God-ordained, what makes your definition of God better than another man’s? And you know Him so intimately to know what His justice is?”