Justice vs. Truth

Are justice and truth the same thing? When a defendant is found guilty or not guilty of a crime, does that mean that the truth has come out?

I was discussing the Casey Anthony case with a friend the other day and it made me think about what really happened. There are so many conflicting stories with the latest being that the child drowned in a pool. Really? If that was the case, why has Casey been languishing in jail for the past few years waiting to come to trial? Why didn’t she just come out and say so when she was arrested? Seems to me that if Caylee (Casey’s daughter) had drowned in the family pool, a simple call to the police would have been made and a report would have stated that a little girl had drowned. Why the cover up?

I don’t think we will ever know the truth unless Casey comes right out and says what happened. And her story is corroborated by the evidence. As it stands now, the only “truth” that is being told is whatever can create reasonable doubt in the jurors’ minds. If the defense can just make enough jurors believe that there is reasonable doubt to Casey’s guilt, then they will acquit her and she will be let go.

But acquittal doesn’t mean that the truth has been told. Even if she was found guilty, the truth hasn’t been told. That just means that the prosecution presented a more plausible case than the defense. It doesn’t mean she killed her daughter. It only means that reasonable doubt was not established.

I think about so many other famous court cases throughout history where people were found guilty or not guilty but the truth was never told. The murder charges against O.J. Simpson comes to mind. Did he do it? He was found not guilty. But then in a civil case, he was found guilty and owes the victim’s families restitution. But, whether he was found not guilty or guilty, no one knows for sure whether not he committed the murders except for him. The truth has never been told.

When did we become a country of truth squashers? When did justice become a game of who was the most convincing and not the search for truth?

I know that people swear, with their hands on the Bible, to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help them God. But do they really? How many people actually lie on the stand and get away with it? I think a larger number of people then anyone interested in justice would believe.

Even if they are honestly telling the truth, aren’t they really just telling the truth as they know it? Their version of the truth? I knew someone once who didn’t want to ever admit they betrayed someone that they had convinced themselves it never happened. The person could have passed a lie detector, they were so convinced of their lie. But it was still a lie. It was their version of the truth.

I think I could go on and on and on (and on and on and on) about this subject and never come to a conclusion. So, I guess the only thing I want to get across is that justice is not truth. And, since Justice is blind (so people will get a fair trial), I am also thinking that Justice is deaf as well because I know that Justice rarely hears the truth and it doesn’t seem to matter.