written by David Barnhizer, A nationally recognized legal scholar
Abridged and synopsized by Dale Nathan*
INTRODUCTION
Rather than symbolizing Justice as a blindfolded goddess carefully weighing the evidence in legal disputes to ensure fair and unbiased outcomes, it has become more accurate to visualize her with blindfold askew, sneaking glances to see who places the most money or other tribute onto her scale to tilt the balance in their favor. If blindfolded Justice is the abstract symbol of independent and equitable decisionmaking, the judge is the concrete manifestation of the process through which we attempt to attain justice and fairness. Achieving justice through the judicial mechanism requires independent and principled arbiters free of corrupting influence.
