Denizens of the District

DC: Separate and unequal since 1801; where America commemorates and preserves past societal injustices by continuing to impose them anew on the daily lives of some few of their countrymen trapped in this small and anachronistic corner of today’s society.

Equal justice under law is the motto inscribed above the entrance to the Supreme Court.

Word games? Equal justice under law. Does that mean the GOAL is equal justice, provided by and resulting from a system of law? OR,instead, (as more often seems the case in a legal system preoccupied by complying with every legal technicality rather than delivering justice), does it imply that the objective of rendering equal justice is only an occasional secondary outcome, “under" (that is, subordinate to) the primary goal of meeting every possible technicality of the law? And then, of course, calling the result, by definition, “equal justice?” The answer depends on what “under” means: does it mean “resulting from” or “subordinate to”?

As the Founding Fathers noted, in a legal system truly dedicated to equal justice under (“resulting from”) law, careful consideration of the “first principles” on which the system was founded ought to trump laws, and even constitutional provisions. These first principles include, among others, such concepts as “all men are created equal” and “just power derives from the consent of the governed”. Under such a system, when the “justices” noted discrepancies between provisions of the laws and the fundamental desired outcome, equal justice, it would be their right, it would be their duty, to point out such discrepancies, and to promote their correction by ordering a modification of the system of laws that led to the deficiency. And it would be equally the duty and right of those governmental representatives entrusted with making, executing, and enforcing the laws (that is, the legislative and executive branches) to then propose, implement, execute and enforce such changes to the laws as will most surely result in the desired outcome – equal justice.

Failing that, it is the right and the duty of the People themselves to make such changes in the system, as to them shall seem most likely to effect the primary goal – equal justice.