Wednesday, January 8, 2020

JUSTICE vs. THE LAW vs. LAWYERS


JUSTICE  :

        Justice is usually associated with the law.  It symbolized by a blindfolded statue
        holding a balance and a sword signifying fairness in accordance with the laws of 
        the society and the sword to render the deserved punishment for the crime.

        The Bible on the other hand states that it is first and foremost a relational term --
        people living in right relationship with God, one another, and the natural creation.
        As God is just and loving, so we are called to do justice and live in love.


        The movie "A Time to Kill " by John Grisham is one fine example of how a man
        who broke the law was given the "justice" he deserve because of the mitigating 
        circumstances that pushed him to commit the crime.



        
LAWS :
       
        Laws are the systems of rules which a particular country or community recognizes
        as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition 
        of penalties. 

        A Legislative body, usually elected by the people gather themselves in assemblies to 
        discuss about the formulation of set of rules, enforceable by the courts, regulating the
        government of a state, the relationship between the organs of the government and the
        subjects of the state, and the relationship or conduct of  subjects towards each other,
        a rule or body of rules made by the legislature.

        Laws are not universal and just like language, it varies with people and age.

        The law doesn't always represent justice. Legal doesn't always equate to morality.
        An example is the Apartheid Law of South Africa.

        The Constitution is an aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents
        that constitute the legal basis of polity, organization or other type of entity,  and 
        commonly determine how the entity is to be governed.

        In the movie "With Honors",  Joe Pesci clearly defined the essence of the constitution,
        and why it is the embodiment of a nation and its people.





LAWYERS  :

        A Lawyer is a person who practices or studies law. They are also called attorneys,
        legal practitioners, barristers, and  legal counsels.

        Daniel Webster quoted, "Even the devil deserves a legal counsel."  An accused is
        presumed innocent unless proven otherwise. Lawyers are needed for due process
        and they have to defend their clients to the best of their ability.

        Al Pacino made his stars shine after portraying a lawyer in the movie "And Justice
        for All"  ...



       The fight for justice is always an interesting note, as lawyers fight it out in the court
       of law.  Money, influence, reason, pride and prestige, sentiments, traditions, and even
       religion play big parts  in the argument of law and a lot of times the truth is twisted
       and justice is denied.

       Now we go down as how the three - justice, law and lawyers - serve as the brush that
       sketches the historical character in a canvass.  Historians give us a picture how a 
       nation and its people were shaped by men's desire to build an orderly society. 

       Hereunder  is a list of books and its movie-tie-ins :

       1.     Anatomy of a Murder   by William Traver  which was made into a movie
                                                             starring James Stewart

       2.    Laughing Whitefish  also by William Traver

       3.    To Kill a Mockingbird    by  Harper Lee which was made into a movie
                                                               starring  Gregory Peck

       4.    Inherit the Wind      by Jerome Lawrence which was made into a movie
                                                      starring Spencer Tracy

       5.    12 Angry Men     by  Reginald Rose  which was made into a movie
                                                  starring  Henry Fonda

       6.    Presumed Innocent   by  Scott Turow which was made into a movie
                                                  starring  Harrison Ford

       7.    A  Time to Kill     by  John  Grisham which was made into a movie
                                                   starring  Samuel Jackson

       8.    A  Few Good Men  by  Aaron Sorkin which was made into a movie
                                                   starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nickolson

       9.    Amistad   by David Pesci and made into a movie by Steven Spielberg

       10.  Body of Evidence   by  Patricia Cornwell and made into a movie that
                                                     featured Madonna

And an extra good first episode of TV series Boston Legal about how lawyers
pull tricks out of hat. 

Notes from Karambola :
-------------------------------

**  "How amazing things are done when no seeks the credit for it."

**  "You sold us down the river" - idiom to describe how government lawyers sold out

**  " An unjust law is not law at all. " - Martin Luther King

**  " Beware the fate of the furious man. " - Oliver Wendell Holmes

**  " Beware of the quiet man
         While others speaks, he watch
         While others acts, he plans
         And when they finally rests, he strikes

**  Contracts  --  contracts can only be valid when they are not contrary to law
                       --  cancellation of contracts -  not even congress can impair an obligation
                                                                         under a contract

**  Preponderance of evidence  --  as long as you can show some bits of evidence

**  The First Act of Sovereignty  --  No international court can implement a ruling in
                                                        our country.

**  Presumption of Innocence  --  " Even the devil deserves a legal counsel
                                                  --  presumed innocent until proven guilty
                                                  --  lawyers are needed to for due process, no lawyer, no trial

**  The Power of the Judiciary  -- to settle cases and controversies / justifiable

**  Constitutional Law  :
                 Quo Warranto order  -- a case of first impression
                                                   -- it involves the interpretations of law that had never been
                                                       done before.           
       

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