Originally from Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation

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Justice” is the great catchword, the past’s promise to posterity, humanity’s hope. It is the indignant cry, the lost illusion, the selfless dedication, the bitter and the sweet. It is the last word of millions who suffer and the first demand of those who seek change. It has stood for revenge and forgiveness, punishment and rehabilitation, compensation and closure, mercy and terror.

Justice has been cited in support of integrated schools and supporters of racial segregation, on behalf of gay marriage and by those who would outlaw homosexuality, by spokespersons for pro choice and pro-life, by defense attorneys and by the prosecution. It graces the facades of law schools and decorates courthouses, but is rarely explored or sought after inside. It is a fixture in the rhetoric of politicians the world over, including the most right-wing supporters of dictatorship and the most left-wing proponents of democracy.

Shakespeare wrote that “mercy seasons justice,” while Robespierre declared that “Terror is nothing else than justice, prompt, secure, and inflexible.” Plato recalled a dialogue in which Thrasymachus debated Socrates over whether justice was simply “the interest of the confirming arbitral awards by “encouraging an endless barrage of challenges to unfavorable arbitral awards or court orders.” [Citation omitted.]).