Good Writing

It's rare that something impressive me as much as the following:

"The facts shown by plaintiff, if true, cause many emotional reactions: Horror at the brutality; sympathy for the child; shame that man, occupying a high pinnacle, may be dropped so low by evil desires; sorrow that the life of a young man was so suddenly and uselessly ended. But we do not judge men; that is for the Highest Court. We pass upon facts as measured by the law, and must at all times retain our equilibrium, to see that the shields erected after centuries of experience to prevent miscarriages of justice are maintained.To the layman, our action here will probably be called a ‘reversal on a technicality’ and he will wonder why this rule should be applied in a case such as this. The man trained in the law will know that we are protecting and preserving for everyone-good, bad, or indifferent-one of the standard safeguards provided for the assurance of a fair trial in all cases. If it should be ignored here, it is destroyed and will not exist at the time of the next trial, regardless of who is the defendant. The same is true of many other so-called ‘technicalities.’ When the courts destroy them, if they do, the days of fair trials as we know them are gone."

-----Justice Jones