How Is Justice Completely Blind
In Webster’s Dictionary the word justice is defined by the words fairness and rightfulness. Around the world, the figure of justice is portrayed as blind from all information but objective facts. In the novel Les Miserables written by Victor Hugo, the figure of justice is meant to be completely blind, but it does not stay totally blind. Jean Valjean, the main character of the novel had been a prisoner for 19 years. When he was released from prison he was given a yellow ticket that identified him as a criminal. This made Valjean unable to live a normal life again. Today, due to the media and the abundance of information that is available for everyone on the internet these days, this system of justice is not always executed properly. These two instances of the yellow ticket in Les Miserables and the media today resulted in no blind justice for those who are affected. The
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system of justice is supposed to be considered blind. This means that when a trial comes to court, no one knows any outside information on the trial before it begins. This includes all of the jury and the judge. The goal of blind justice is to present a fair trial and eliminate bias. Part of the jury selection process is to make sure that no one has any prior knowledge on the trial that they are being selected. When there is a trial that is totally blind, the trial is more likely to go smoothly because all of the facts would just have been known from information presented in the court. There is no outside information that someone considers important which could cause chaos and confusion. Unfortunately in some cases it is difficult to keep a case blind. In today’s society there are certain cases that are very tough to keep blind. These cases usually contain popular celebrities that the media is attached to. Whenever a celebrity gets in lots of trouble with the law, it is all over television, newspapers and the internet. The world knows everything that happened in the incident and what will happen to the celebrity. This results in the trial not being blind at all. A recent example of a trial not being blind is the case of the former Buffalo Bills running back O.J. Simpson. Simpson tried to retain some of his old memorabilia from some old friends, but did it very aggressively with a weapon and was charged with numerous accounts of armed robbery and kidnapping. Before this, Simpson was well known for his success on the football field but also his prior trial for murdering his wife. Simpson was found not guilty in this popular trial but many people believe he was guilty. This recent trial was followed very intently by the media. Reporters were everywhere Simpson went and every development in the trial was in the news almost instantly. Before the trial started the judge and jury had already known all about Simpson and his successes and mishaps. As a result the trial was very biased against Simpson. Simpson was found guilty and sentenced to at least 9 years in prison and a maximum of 33 years. This anti-blind justice pretty much goes for any celebrity that gets in trouble with the law. In Les Miserables justice is not completely blind for Jean Valjean.
The justice is not completely blind because Jean Valjean is not a criminal but he was a result of a slightly corrupt justice system during that time period in France. The justice system was not intended to be blind. Jean Valjean’s open justice was not in court, it was when he was traveling from town to town. Every time he enters a town he must present a yellow passport, showing that he is an ex-convict. This causes people to instantly look down on Valjean and treat him worse than a normal person. Since he is an ex-convict, anytime he does something he is quick to be arrested, because of his past. When he stays with the Bishop of Digne and steals some silverware he is quickly arrested. Luckily the Bishop was very gracious and let Jean Valjean go by teaching him some lessons. Valjean does continue to face adversity because of his past. He is later wanted back in prison because he is thought to be disguising himself, to hide his ex-convict identity. Blind justice was clearly not evident in the life of Jean
Valjean. Clearly, justice is sometimes completely blind, but it is very difficult to keep ones case completely blind. In the cases of O.J. Simpson and Jean Valjean blind justice was not present and they both suffered from it. The justice system suffers directly from the world around it and as time goes on it becomes ever harder to keep information private.
system of justice is supposed to be considered blind. This means that when a trial comes to court, no one knows any outside information on the trial before it begins. This includes all of the jury and the judge. The goal of blind justice is to present a fair trial and eliminate bias. Part of the jury selection process is to make sure that no one has any prior knowledge on the trial that they are being selected. When there is a trial that is totally blind, the trial is more likely to go smoothly because all of the facts would just have been known from information presented in the court. There is no outside information that someone considers important which could cause chaos and confusion. Unfortunately in some cases it is difficult to keep a case blind. In today’s society there are certain cases that are very tough to keep blind. These cases usually contain popular celebrities that the media is attached to. Whenever a celebrity gets in lots of trouble with the law, it is all over television, newspapers and the internet. The world knows everything that happened in the incident and what will happen to the celebrity. This results in the trial not being blind at all. A recent example of a trial not being blind is the case of the former Buffalo Bills running back O.J. Simpson. Simpson tried to retain some of his old memorabilia from some old friends, but did it very aggressively with a weapon and was charged with numerous accounts of armed robbery and kidnapping. Before this, Simpson was well known for his success on the football field but also his prior trial for murdering his wife. Simpson was found not guilty in this popular trial but many people believe he was guilty. This recent trial was followed very intently by the media. Reporters were everywhere Simpson went and every development in the trial was in the news almost instantly. Before the trial started the judge and jury had already known all about Simpson and his successes and mishaps. As a result the trial was very biased against Simpson. Simpson was found guilty and sentenced to at least 9 years in prison and a maximum of 33 years. This anti-blind justice pretty much goes for any celebrity that gets in trouble with the law. In Les Miserables justice is not completely blind for Jean Valjean.
The justice is not completely blind because Jean Valjean is not a criminal but he was a result of a slightly corrupt justice system during that time period in France. The justice system was not intended to be blind. Jean Valjean’s open justice was not in court, it was when he was traveling from town to town. Every time he enters a town he must present a yellow passport, showing that he is an ex-convict. This causes people to instantly look down on Valjean and treat him worse than a normal person. Since he is an ex-convict, anytime he does something he is quick to be arrested, because of his past. When he stays with the Bishop of Digne and steals some silverware he is quickly arrested. Luckily the Bishop was very gracious and let Jean Valjean go by teaching him some lessons. Valjean does continue to face adversity because of his past. He is later wanted back in prison because he is thought to be disguising himself, to hide his ex-convict identity. Blind justice was clearly not evident in the life of Jean
Valjean. Clearly, justice is sometimes completely blind, but it is very difficult to keep ones case completely blind. In the cases of O.J. Simpson and Jean Valjean blind justice was not present and they both suffered from it. The justice system suffers directly from the world around it and as time goes on it becomes ever harder to keep information private.