Equal justice under law

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The front of the Supreme Court Building, including the West Pediment.
The front of the Supreme Court Building, including the West Pediment.

Equal Justice Under Law is a phrase engraved on the front of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington D.C. This phrase was apparently first written in 1932 by the architectural firm that designed the building. Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes subsequently approved this inscription, as did the United States Supreme Court Building Commission which Hughes chaired.[1] The architectural firm that authored the phrase was headed by Cass Gilbert.[2]

The words "Equal Justice Under Law" apparently paraphrase an earlier expression coined by Chief Justice Melville Fuller.[3] In the case of Caldwell v. Texas in 1891, Fuller wrote about the Fourteenth Amendment as follows:

By the Fourteenth Amendment the powers of the States in dealing with crime within their borders are not limited, but no State can deprive particular persons or classes of persons of equal and impartial justice under the law.[4]

Neither this entire sentence, nor even the last seven words, would have fit on a pediment or architrave of the U.S. Supreme Court building, which explains why the architects would have wanted to shorten them. In the years since Fuller wrote these words, the Supreme Court has decided that the Fourteenth Amendment, and especially its Due Process Clause, do limit the powers of the states in dealing with crime.

[edit] The Funeral Oration of Pericles

Bust of Pericles, Roman copy after a Greek original from ca. 430 BC
Bust of Pericles, Roman copy after a Greek original from ca. 430 BC

The term "equal justice" dates back at least to the dawn of western civilization. In his funeral oration of 430 B.C., the Athenian leader Pericles discussed this concept. Thus, Chief Justice Fuller was by no means writing on a clean slate when he referred to "equal and impartial justice under the law" in Caldwell v. Texas. There are several different English translations of the relevant passage in Pericles' funeral oration, and three of those English translations will now be quoted. Here is Pericles discussing "equal justice" according to the English translation by Richard Crawley in 1874:

Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighbouring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves. Its administration favours the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; if no social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition.[5]

Here is Pericles discussing "equal justice" according to the English translation by Benjamin Jowett in 1881:

Our form of government does not enter into rivalry with the institutions of others. We do not copy our neighbours, but are an example to them. It is true that we are called a democracy, for the administration is in the hands of the many and not of the few. But while the law secures equal justice to all alike in their private disputes, the claim of excellence is also recognised; and when a citizen is in any way distinguished, he is preferred to the public service, not as a matter of privilege, but as the reward of merit. Neither is poverty a bar, but a man may benefit his country whatever be the obscurity of his condition.[6]

And here is Pericles discussing "equal justice" according to the English translation by Rex Warner in 1954:

Our form of government does not enter into rivalry with the institutions of others. Our government does not copy our neighbors', but is an example to them. It is true that we are called a democracy, for the administration is in the hands of the many and not of the few. But while there exists equal justice to all and alike in their private disputes, the claim of excellence is also recognized; and when a citizen is in any way distinguished, he is preferred to the public service, not as a matter of privilege, but as the reward of merit. Neither is poverty an obstacle, but a man may benefit his country whatever the obscurity of his condition.[7]

The funeral oration by Pericles was published in Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, of which there are several other English translations.

[edit] References

  1. ^ West Pediment Information Sheet via U.S. Supreme Court web site.
  2. ^ McGurn, Barrett. "Slogans to Fit the Occasion" Supreme Court Historical Society Yearbook (1982).
  3. ^ Peccarelli, Anthony. "The Meaning of Justice", DuPage County Bar Association Brief (March 2000).
  4. ^ Caldwell v. Texas, 137 U.S. 692 (1891).
  5. ^ Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War, Written 431 B.C.E, Translated by Richard Crawley (1874), retrieved via Project Gutenberg.
  6. ^ Jowett, Benjamin. Thucydides, translated into English, to which is prefixed an essay on inscriptions and a note on the geography of Thucydides, Second edition, Oxford, Clarendon Press (1900), via classicpersuasion.org.
  7. ^ Pericles's Funeral Oration, translated by Rex Warner (1954), via wikisource.