Quotes About Fairness

God help us, if ever in this great country we turn our heads while people who have not had fair trials are executed…" -Judge Frank Howell Seay

Perhaps in another era, a trial was an exercise in the presentation of facts, the search for truth, and the finding of justice. Now a trial is a contest in which one side will win and the other side will lose. Each side expects the other to bend the rules or to cheat, so neither side plays fair. The truth is lost in the melee.

Do we really want fair trials? No, we do not. We want justice, and quickly. And justice is whatever we deem it to be on a case-by-case basis.

In Ake v. Oklahoma, the Court said: "When a State brings its judicial power to bear on an indigent defendant in a criminal proceeding, it must take steps to assure that the defendant has a fair opportunity to present his defense…. Justice cannot be equal where, simply as a result of his poverty, a defendant is denied the opportunity to participate meaningfully in a judicial proceeding in which his liberty is at stake.

And until we can see each other as equals, justice is never going to be even-handed. It will remain nothing more than a reflection of our own prejudices

Justice delayed is justice denied.

The system reflects society. It's not always fair, but it's as fair as the system in New York, or Massachusetts, or California. It's as fair as biased, emotional humans can make it.

God help us, if ever in this great country we turn our heads while people who have not had fair trials are executed. That almost happened in this case.

While considering my decision in this case, I told a friend, a layman, I believed the facts and the law dictated that I must grant a new trial to a man who had been convicted and sentenced to death. My friend asked, "Is he a murderer?" I replied simply, "We won't know until he receives a fair trial." God help us, if ever in this great country we turn our heads while people who have not had fair trials are executed. That almost happened in this case.

When the State, with its limitless resources, commences a fraudulent case and cheats at every turn, then cheating is legitimized. There is no level playing field. There is no fairness. The only honorable alternative for a lawyer fighting to save an innocent client is to cheat in defense. However, if a defense lawyer is caught cheating, he or she gets nailed with

God help us, if ever in this great country we turn our heads while those who have not had fair trials are executed. That almost happened in this case.

We want justice, and quickly. And justice is whatever we deem it to be on a case-by-case basis. It's just as well that we don't believe in fair trials because we damned sure don't have them. The presumption of innocence is now the presumption of guilt. The burden of proof is a travesty because the proof is often lies. Guilt beyond a reasonable doubt means if he probably did it, then let's get him off the streets.

It's just as well that we don't believe in fair trials because we damned sure don't have them. The presumption of innocence is now the presumption of guilt. The burden of proof is a travesty because the proof is often lies. Guilt beyond a reasonable doubt means if he probably did it, then let's get him off the streets.

When the State, with its limitless resources, commences a fraudulent case and cheats at every turn, then cheating is legitimized. There is no level playing field. There is no fairness. The only honorable alternative for a lawyer fighting to save an innocent client is to cheat in defense.

Our system never holds a bad prosecutor accountable.

A stable society is built on notions of fairness and justice and it's left to judges like you and me to make sure all citizens are protected from the corrupt, the violent, and the forces of evil.

The road to justice is filled with barriers and land mines, most of them created by men and women who claim to be seeking justice.

It just don't seem fair." "Who said life is fair?

A fascist is anyone who, seeing a man working hard and earning money, says, He's getting more than we are, let's pass a law to take it away from him!

If the judgement makes the law and not the law directs the judgement, it is impossible there should be such a thing as an illegal judgement given.

There are thousands of kinds of injustice but there is only one kind of justice - equal justice for all. To call for a little more justice, or a moderately gradual sort of justice, is to call for no justice. That is a simple truth.

I know what's fair, Helen said. I also know what's human

And for her eyes: what could such eyes do there But weep, and weep, that they were born so fair?

Finny never permitted himself to realize that when you won they lost. That would have destroyed the perfect beauty which was sport.