Thursday Constitution Blogging

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Tonight I want to life one phrase out of the Preamble.

We the People of the United States, in Order to ... establish Justice, ... do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The Wikipedia article on "justice" speaks of its importance:

Justice concerns the proper ordering of things and persons within a society. As a concept it has been subject to philosophical, legal, and theological reflection and debate throughout history. According to most theories of justice, it is overwhelmingly important: John Rawls, for instance, claims that "Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought."

Mingled in our concepts of justice one finds the concepts of what is fair, what is right, and what is true. The establishment of justice thus involves discernment of the true from the false, the equitable from the inequitable, right from wrong.

In the more symbolic and less philosophical article on "Lady Justice" Wikipedia notes:

...Lady Justice is often depicted wearing a blindfold. This is done in order to indicate that justice is (or should be) meted out objectively, without fear or favor, regardless of the [sic] identity, power, or weakness....

Central, then, to our concept of justice, is the issue of "without fear or favor": the idea that everyone gets a fair break. Law should be applied without regard to one's status in society, one's power or lack thereof. Without this element, any purported justice becomes suspect.

The prophets of Israel had a lot to say about justice and the Torah insists that there should be one law for both the Israelite and the resident alien. This is an interesting and important principle in light of all the brouhaha over alien status in the United States and the xenophobia that is being stirred up these days. The Torah also insists that there be one set of measures, not one standard for selling and another for buying, thus always favoring oneself and cheating the other party.

Standards and procedures keep us from falling into either chaos or the principle of "might makes right" taking over. As the motto inscribed over the entrance to the Supreme Court Building says: "Equal Justice Under Law."

We are appropriately outraged when the law and the courts are subverted so that the true, the right, and the fair seem to lose out. Sometimes we are horrified when adherence to procedure springs someone on a technicality though I suggest we should be more horrified if procedures are ignored or abused. Procedures undergird both objectivity, for the sake of fairness, and careful documentation, for the sake of truth.

[What I say here about procedures and standards in the civil realm also applies in ecclesiastical matters and the role of canon law in framing our application of justice carefully and correctly.]

When someone simply flouts the law and gets away with it we all recognize that the underpinnings of society are shaken. If the Constitution, for instance, which constitutes the supreme law of the land, is ignored or undermined, then what is the basis for our government? What guarantee have we that justice can prevail? What protections do we have from any number of abuses or the rise of a new tyranny? These were things the Founders had in mind when they framed our government and they sought to put various checks and balances into place so that power would be distributed and not accrue to one person or one branch of government.

Anyone who reads this blog knows my feelings about the behavior of the current administration and what I, and many others, deem demonstrable violations of the Constitution and other laws of this nation.

What does "justice" mean to you?

--the BB