Justice

Our American legal system is charged with providing justice to all. The movie you recently watched, A Time to Kill, based on John Grisham's book, raises many questions about justice and the law. Jake Brigance's mentor, Lucien Wilbanks, tells Jake, “'You can win this case, and justice will prevail. But lose, and justice will also prevail.'”  In some ways, the entire movie contemplates the truth of Lucien's statement.

Carl Lee Hailey's actions are described as vigilante justice, and in our country, we do not believe in an individual's right to take justice into his or her own hands. However, the movie clearly desires that the viewer see Carl Lee Hailey's acquittal as the “good” ending, the ending with truth and fairness on its side.

Additionally, the movie raises many issues about whether true justice is even possible in our legal system. For example, when Carl Lee Hailey looks at the jury, he sarcastically remarks, “'That's the jury of my peers.'” Tragedy strikes almost everyone at some point. Jake loses his house, and Deputy Dewayne Looney loses part of his leg. When the husband of Jake's secretary dies, she says to Jake, “'You may win, but I think we've all lost here.'” Ellen Roark is brutally attacked and spends the end of the trial in the hospital.  Questions abound throughout the movie concerning the use of expert testimony, the sanctity of the potential juror list, the ethics of Hary Rex Vonner and others, and whether jurors really do “disregard” inadmissable questions and evidence. Surrounding everything is the question of whether our legal system can ever provide justice when any degree of racism still exists.

What are your opinions on the way justice is portrayed in A Time to Kill?  Do you think the American legal system is capable of justice?