The Pursuit of Justice

申命记第16章：18-17章：13节
Sermon on Deuteronomy 16:18-17:13

Let’s have a show of hands: who recognizes the character in the picture? *show picture on Powerpoint* Yes, it is the famous Justice Bao (包青天). This picture comes from the Taiwanese version of the drama series based on Justice Bao. In one Taiwanese talk-show, an actor shared this story: A TV network wanted to screen a drama series, but there was some delay in the filming. They needed some buffer time before that series could be screened. This drama series on Justice Bao was intended as that buffer program. The original plan was perhaps to provide a few more weeks of filming time for the actual drama series that was to be screened. In the end, that few weeks of buffer time became one year. What happened to the original plan? Well, when Justice Bao was screened, it became incredibly popular. When the network executives saw the ratings, they naturally decided to extend this drama series instead. And with extensions came further extensions, and it evolved into a 236 episode series lasting almost 1 year.[1] If you include the later sequels, they add up to more than 700 episodes. The original drama series that was to be screened was eventually dropped into another time slot.

There are many reasons for the success of the drama series Justice Bao. Some would attribute it to the dramatic storyline, others to the good acting. But I believe one major reason lies in our innate resonance with the characterization of Justice Bao. Justice Bao does not have the strongest strength. That would be the imperial guard Zhan Zhao. Justice Bao does not have the quickest mind. That would be the court clerk Gongsun Ce. They are both his able assistants. Instead, the greatest attribute of Justice Bao would be his impeccable heart of courage. In a society separated by the Confucian categories of Scholars, Peasants, Artisans and Merchants, Justice Bao was unafraid to judge over anyone, be it royal officials or wealthy landowners. Justice Bao became a symbol of righteousness because he was willing to give a fair hearing to all, whether you are rich or poor, whichever background you have. The only bias he has is if you get a death sentence, you get the dog’s head guillotine if you are a commoner, a tiger’s head if you are a government official, and a dragon’s head if you are from the royal family.

And so I believe this drama series was popular because we all yearn for this kind of idealized justice in this imperfect world. The degree of corruption may vary depending on where you are in the world. But even in the least corrupted country, who would have the absolute confidence that you would get an equal hearing no matter who you are? Some may say that those who can afford better lawyers or have better political connections would surely have an advantage. And so Justice Bao is popular because he represents our wish for such a heroic figure.

In our passage today, we read Deuteronomy 16: 18 Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly. 19 Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. 20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you. (NIV)

Today’s topic is on the judicial system. For the past 2 months, our study of the laws in Deuteronomy focused mainly on the first 4 commandments, which are about our relationship with God. We talked about worship and about other idols. We talked about holiness and our holy days. Now we are moving on to our relationship with one another. This segment begins with the judicial system because it is interestingly, “an elaboration of the commandment concerning the honoring of parents, since it is marked the primary and most basic form of acknowledgment of a concept of social order. Parenthood, with all the responsibilities and commitments of the family as the primary kin group, established the groundwork for a wider spectrum of authority and leadership that provides a structural backbone for society as a whole.”[2] Perhaps this is why the Chinese call our government officials their “parental officials” (父母官). We acknowledge the need for order in our society, just as it is in our own families. And this is seen in Deuteronomy, where the judicial system is mentioned first, in our relationship with one another.

It goes without saying that these officials need to be capable in their work. So these officials need to be wise, diligent, good with listening and understanding and so on. Those who have read any legal documents would realize that the ability to stay awake after reading through all the legal jargon is in itself a precious gift. But Deuteronomy mentions only one criterion for appointing judges – these judges have to be impartial. One way to achieve this is to not accept any bribes. These verses may be straightforward. Of course judges have to be fair and impartial. But we have to delve deeper. Why is impartiality the only listed criterion? It is the same in the Western ideal of Justice. Lady Justice is portrayed as a blind woman with a scale and a sword. The main characterization of Justice Bao is also about his impartiality. Why is impartiality especially mentioned in Deuteronomy and celebrated as an ideal both in the East and in the West? I call it the challenge of impartiality.

Impartiality is a challenge because a case is not just a mathematical riddle to be solved, but it always involves two human parties. Herein lies the challenge. Like it or not, there is always a connection between a human and another human being. When you walk into a party, even if you are a stranger there, there are some that you would be more inclined to approach for a conversation. Therefore, unless you are really blind like Lady Justice, each party will have an anchoring effect on your decision. “Anchoring is a cognitive bias that describes the common human tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered, which acts like an anchor, when making decisions. Once an anchor is set, other judgments are made by adjusting away from that anchor, and there is a bias toward interpreting other information around the anchor.”[3]

“The power of random anchors has been demonstrated in some unsettling ways. German judges with an average of more than fifteen years of experience on the bench first read a description of a woman who had been caught shoplifting, then rolled a pair of dice that were loaded so every roll resulted in either a 3 or a 9. As soon as the dice came to a stop, the judges were asked whether they would sentence the woman to a term in prison greater or lesser in months, than the number showing on the dice. Finally, the judges were instructed to specify the exact prison sentence they would give to the shoplifter. On average, those who rolled a 9 said they would sentence her to 8 months; those who rolled a 3 said they would sentence her to 5 months; the anchoring effect was 50%.”[4]

This is the challenge of impartiality. We as humans naturally have an affinity factor towards another human being. It could be someone with a friendly face; or a person with a respectable background; or a victim of a crime you feel strongly about. And that impression of both parties of a case is the first information a judge would receive about a case. It has an anchoring effect. If the result of a dice roll can have an anchoring effect on our decisions, how much more the anchoring effects of our connection with a fellow human being. Therefore, not accepting bribes is the bare minimum towards being impartial. Beyond the bare minimum, we might be sensible enough to avoid siding with a friend or favoring the rich and powerful. But the biggest danger arrives when we are complacent about our fairness. We fail to detect the subconscious anchoring effect every human being has on us. That is the challenge of impartiality.[5]

There is phrase I like in verse 20, “Follow justice and justice alone”(NIV). The verb here tirdof (תִּרְדֹּ֑ף) is often translated as follow or pursue.
20 You shall follow what is altogether just(NKJV)
20 Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue (NRSV and NASB)
20 The right! The right! Pursue only what’s right!(The Message)
20 Justice must prevail. (Living Bible)
I prefer the translation of “pursue” because it describes the “chasing after” that is meant by the word. Justice is a target to be pursued. And you don’t really have it until you have really given it a good chase. In the chase, you have to overcome your complacency of thinking you are already fair-minded. You have to jump over all your various hurdles of biases. You have to hunt down the best verdict, and not just the verdict that you think is good enough. This is the pursuit of justice. Impartiality is not natural. Partiality has to be overcome for justice to prevail.

But there is a limit to the effects of impartiality. There is a Chinese saying “清官难断家务事”. This means that when it comes to family affairs, even the most impartial judge cannot give a pleasing verdict to all sides. So on one hand we have to strive towards justice. We try our best to be impartial. But on the other hand, we have to acknowledge that there is a limit to the perception of fairness. Because of the human element in cases, sometimes it may be too impossible to please everyone. As a judge, we must take responsibility in giving a final verdict. As one of the parties in a conflict, we must learn to accept the time of a final verdict.

Hence we read in Deuteronomy 17: 8 If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults—take them to the place the Lord your God will choose. 9 Go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict. 10 You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the Lord will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you to do. 11 Act according to whatever they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left. 12 Anyone who shows contempt for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering there to the Lord your God is to be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel. 13 All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again.

This passage deals with two related issues of the judiciary, the issues of jurisdiction and contempt of court. The more complicated cases are demarcated for the high courts, somewhat like the modern High Courts or Court of Appeals. Here, the Levitical priests are involved because cases of bloodshed would necessitate sacrifices and so on. This is also the highest level of the judiciary. The decisions are final and those who show contempt for the decisions at this level would be heavily punished. The strong words used here for the contempt of court may be shocking to some of us. But we have to be clear about the goal of the judiciary system. The goal is peace in the community. Therefore, the verdict must be acknowledged as fair for the case to be fully resolved. This is especially important because all cases involve humans. And human vengeance and retaliation will never end, unless there is a respect given to the judiciary that the case can be ended with a final verdict. It may be impossible to please everyone. But it is at least possible to force an understanding and mutual acknowledgement that a case is over when it is over.

At the heart of this goal of peace lies a true understanding of what it means to be living in the Promised Land. It is living by God’s grace. Hence they are reminded in verse 18 (the) judges and officials (are) for each of your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you. Similarly in verse 20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you have the understanding that you are living by God’s grace, and that everything you own belongs to the Lord, it naturally leads to an acceptance that judgment also belongs to the Lord. Sometimes we complain about unfairness because we want everything to be in our favor or things to be judged in our perspective. But if everything belongs to the Lord, even our rights and grievances, then we can find our peace in the Lord. The Levitical priests act as our mediator to seek God’s justice, but they are also there to pronounce the final verdict of God’s judgment. Acceptance of judgment is what brings peace with one another, and also peace with God. When we return to the original 5th Commandment, we see that the goal of peace and life in the Promised Land in there all along. In Deuteronomy 5: 16 “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

I wish to sum up by returning to the theme of the pursuit of justice. We all yearn for a harmonious society. That can only happen when we build a strong system of protecting the innocent as well as punishing the guilty. A judicial system that exudes impartiality can only happen when there is a sincere pursuit of justice each and every time. Even though this pursuit is earnest, it cannot be relentless.

In the film “The pursuit of happyness”, Will Smith played the character Christopher Gardner who said this: “It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?”

That is the take home message for today. It is the pursuit that is important, and not the possession of justice for self-satisfaction. What is the difference? There are those that claim to desire justice or want to fight for justice. But in their relentless pursuit, they just want to possess their version of justice. In their view, it is only justice when everything is in their favor or things are judged in their perspective. But the pursuit of Justice is an earnest effort to seek, not our will but God’s will. Justice is not for your satisfaction, but for the peace of the community. The final judgment belongs to the Lord and our faithful acceptance of justice served is equally important. May we learn to pursue justice righteously, but never self-righteously.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_Bao_(1993_TV_series)
[2] The New Interpreters’ Bible, vol2, p 416
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring_effect
[4] Daniel Kahneman, Thinking Fast and Slow, p 125-126, citing Birte Englich, Tomas Mussweiler, and Fritz Strack, “Playing Dice with Crimal Sentences: The Influence of Irrelevant Anchors on Experts’ Judicial Decision Making,” Personality and Social psychology Bulletin 32 (2006): 188-200
[5] I would like to mention another side note about the danger of falling into default positions in decision making. “A (study) was recently reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The unwitting participants in the study were eight parole judges in Israel. They spend entire days reviewing applications for parole. The cases are presented in random order, and the judges spend little time on each one, an average of 6 minutes. (The default decision is denial of parole; only 35% of requests are approved. The exact time of each decision is recorded, and the times of the judges’ three food breaks – morning break, lunch, and afternoon break – during the day are recorded as well.) The authors of the study plotted the proportion of approved requests against the time since the last food break. The proportion spikes after each meal, when about 655 of requests are granted. During the two hours or so until the judges’ next food feeding, the approval rate drops steadily, to about zero just before the meal. As you might expect, this is an unwelcome result and the authors carefully checked many alternative explanations. The best possible account of the data provides bad news: tired and hungry judges tend to fall back on the easier default position of denying requests for parole. Both fatigue and hunger probably played a role.” - Daniel Kahneman, Thinking Fast and Slow, p 43-44, citing Shai Danziger, Jonathan Levav, and Liora Avnaim-Pesso, “Extraneous Factors in Judicial Decisions,” PNAS 108 (2011): 6889-92