The Meaning of Justice

09/18/06

The quote below was drawn from a column by James Carroll in this morning's Boston Globe.
While he didn't say it directly, Carroll implies that a society without justice and due process for all, even the most heinous, is a society one step away from totalitarian rule.

Here are his words:

"Justice is measured in every society by how the worst malefactors are treated -- the worst not only in culpability, but in capacity for general harm. The best way to combat terrorism is to wrap accused terrorists in the cloth of the law they would rip asunder. More important, to legalize the abuse of a class of prisoners is to prepare for the abuse of all."