The Daily Theme: Essays: Topic 95: Human Blindness

Carol:

Justice Blindfolded

Not all talk at our dinner table is about punctuation, genealogy, and dogs. Table talk also reflects my husband’s interests, such as the latest issue of BMW Rider’s Magazine, hot headlines from the New York Times, and The Law. Contrary to the lawyer/shark/bottom feeder jokes, Marc and I both consider his career an honorable profession. So, when we drew topic 95, I thought about the symbolism of the famous statue “Blind Justice.” My subsequent search for information about the term led me in several very strange directions.

The most common Google links led to films and TV. The 1994 HBO film centers around a gun-fighter who was blinded in the Civil War. The 2005 TV series involves a New York Detective, oh my, blinded in the line of duty. Despite creator Stephen Bochco’s success with such mega-series as Columbo, Doogie Howser M.D, L.A. Law and NYPD Blue, Blind Justice didn’t make it past the first season(source: IMDB).

My next search led to a forty-page pdf document called “Blind Justice: Juries Deciding Life and Death With Only Half the Truth.” The report was written by Richard C. Dieter, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center whose website provides easily accessible fact sheets and educational materials indicating that Lady Justice is not blind to color. For example, DPIC’s “Facts About the Death Penalty” (updated 14 Jan. 2011) cites several studies showing that the odds of a defendant receiving the death penalty increase when the victim is white, regardless of the race of the defendant (source: DPIC website).

My search for “blind justice” next took me to a book called Blind Justice (2009) The cover photo reveals that its author Craig B. Brown is also Judge Brown, so I skimmed several pages of the introduction out of curiosity. Much to my surprise, his title is, oh my, a play on words; the now retired honorable Judge Craig B. Brown of North Carolina is blind. Since I could only read a few pages of the introduction without having to buy the book, I googled Judge Brown to find out more about him, expecting a fascinating story. Which I got.

Judge Brown had been the subject of controversy over a 2008 high-profile murder case where 17-year old Lawrence Lovette was accused of murdering two North Carolina college students. During a bond hearing, Judge Brown called on state law-makers to enact legislation to curb gang violence in what amounted to a four-minute speech. This diversion from typical proceedings in effect “branded” the defendant as a gang member, such prejudicial, unsupported assumptions potentially tainting the jury pool. Defendant Lovette is still awaiting trial, ineligible for the death penalty because of his age at the time of the crime. His older co-defendant pled guilty to avoid the death penalty. His plea bargain was supported by the family of 22-year-old victim Eve Carson, who have publically stated that neither Eve nor her family believe in the death penalty. Judge Craig Brown resigned two months after the controversial bond hearing, a year later releasing his book (source: Winston-Salem Journal). If you want the “rest of the story,” Brown writes about the case in Chapters 14 and 15 of Blind Justice.
I don’t know what new project Stephen Bochco is working on these days, but there is a story to be told. A blind, retired Judge from the South becomes a writer-advocate to fight street violence. The series will need a catchy title, though, a play on words perhaps?

Sources:
Blind Justice (2005). ABC Television program
“Blind Justice: Juries Deciding Life and Death With Only Half the Truth.”