76:
783:, translated by Rex Warner (1954), via wikisource: "Our form of government does not enter into rivalry with the institutions of others. Our government does not copy our neighbors', but is an example to them. It is true that we are called a democracy, for the administration is in the hands of the many and not of the few. But while there exists equal justice to all and alike in their private disputes, the claim of excellence is also recognized; and when a citizen is in any way distinguished, he is preferred to the public service, not as a matter of privilege, but as the reward of merit. Neither is poverty an obstacle, but a man may benefit his country whatever the obscurity of his condition."
211:, the Fuller Court yet again discussed the Fourteenth Amendment in similar terms, but this time mentioning punishments: "The last-named Amendment was not intended to, and does not, limit the powers of a State in dealing with crime committed within its own borders or with the punishment thereof, although no State can deprive particular persons or classes of persons of equal and impartial justice under the law."
31:
121:, it is common for people to "suggest that disagreement with some contestable legal proposition or another would be tantamount to chiseling or sandblasting 'Equal Justice Under Law' from the Supreme Court's portico." The phrase may be perceived in a variety of ways, but it very distinctly does not say "equal law under justice", which would have meant that the judiciary can prioritize justice over law.
548:
regular course of administration through courts of justice is due process, and when secured by the law of the State the constitutional requirement is satisfied; and that due process is so secured by laws operating on all alike, and not subjecting the individual to the arbitrary exercise of the powers of government unrestrained by the established principles of private right and distributive justice."
730:(1886): "Though the law itself be fair on its face and impartial in appearance, yet, if it is applied and administered by public authority with an evil eye and an unequal hand, so as practically to make unjust and illegal discriminations between persons in similar circumstances, material to their rights, the denial of equal justice is still within the prohibition of the Constitution."
145:
769:
few. But while the law secures equal justice to all alike in their private disputes, the claim of excellence is also recognised; and when a citizen is in any way distinguished, he is preferred to the public service, not as a matter of privilege, but as the reward of merit. Neither is poverty a bar, but a man may benefit his country whatever be the obscurity of his condition."
268:
75:
768:
Second edition, Oxford, Clarendon Press (1900): "Our form of government does not enter into rivalry with the institutions of others. We do not copy our neighbours, but are an example to them. It is true that we are called a democracy, for the administration is in the hands of the many and not of the
113:
objected to Chief
Justice Hughes about this inscription, urging that the word "equal" be removed because such a "qualification" renders the phrase too narrow; the equality principle would still be implied without that word, Swope said. Hughes refused, writing that it was appropriate to "place a
547:
stated: "It must be regarded as settled that....by the
Fourteenth Amendment the powers of States in dealing with crime within their borders are not limited, except that no State can deprive particular persons, or classes of persons, of equal and impartial justice under the law; that law in its
141:: "the powers of the States in dealing with crime within their borders are not limited, but no State can deprive particular persons or classes of persons of equal and impartial justice under the law." The last seven words are summarized by the inscription on the U.S. Supreme Court building.
298:
Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighbouring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves. Its administration favours the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private
299:
differences; if no social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition.
328:
As quoted above, Pericles said that a person's wealth or prominence should not influence his eligibility for public employment or affect the justice he receives. Similarly, Chief
Justice Hughes defended the inscription "equal justice under law" by referring to the judicial
628:(1900); Justice Peckham wrote the Court's opinion, and Justice Harlan was the sole dissenter. Harlan argued that a person cannot be tried for an infamous crime by a jury of less than twelve persons, instead of the eight jurors allowed in Utah. Many years later, in
204:, to make the point that Utah could devise its own criminal procedure, as long as defendants are "proceeded against by the same kind of procedure and ... have the same kind of trial, and the equal protection of the laws is secured to them."
251:, which instead says that no state shall "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." From an architectural perspective, the main advantage of the former over the latter was brevity — the
189:
were challenged because they allegedly gave inadequate notice of the crimes being charged. The Court upheld the indictments because they followed the form required by Texas law. In a case nine years later
238:
In the years since moving into their present building, the
Supreme Court has often connected the words "equal justice under law" with the Fourteenth Amendment. For example, in the 1958 case of
337:
made a similar point: "The principles which would have governed with $ 10,000 at stake should also govern when thousands have become billions. That is the essence of equal justice under law."
117:
This legal soundbite atop the Court is perceived differently by different people, sometimes as ostentatious, often as profound, and occasionally as vacuous. According to law professor
425:
138:
60:
540:
106:, the two people at Gilbert's firm who were responsible for the slogan "equal justice under law" were Gilbert's son (Cass Gilbert, Jr.) and Gilbert's partner, John R. Rockart.
291:, he was by no means the first to discuss this concept. There are several different English translations of the relevant passage in Pericles' funeral oration.
333:, which requires judges to "administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich". Decades later, Supreme Court Justice
244:, the Court said: "The Constitution created a government dedicated to equal justice under law. The Fourteenth Amendment embodied and emphasized that ideal."
91:
subsequently approved this inscription, as did the United States
Supreme Court Building Commission which Hughes chaired (and on which Van Devanter served).
854:
311:
in 1954 had
Pericles saying: "there exists equal justice to all and alike in their private disputes". The funeral oration by Pericles was published in
849:
307:
in 1881 likewise had
Pericles saying: "the law secures equal justice to all alike in their private disputes". And, the English translation by
229:
was the sole dissenter. The Court would later reject the idea that the
Fourteenth Amendment does not limit punishments (see the 1962 case of
45:
760:
578:
504:
322:
317:
24:
757:
Thucydides, translated into
English, to which is prefixed an essay on inscriptions and a note on the geography of Thucydides
168:
opinion was unanimous, in contrast to the Fuller Court's major disagreements about equality issues in other cases such as
129:
The words "equal justice under law" paraphrase an earlier expression coined in 1891 by the
Supreme Court. In the case of
59:
The phrase was proposed by the building's architects, and then approved by judges of the Court in 1932. It is based upon
276:
287:
encouraged belief in what we now call equal justice under law. Thus, when Chief Justice Fuller wrote his opinion in
864:
779:
385:
248:
98:, though Gilbert himself was much more interested in design and arrangement, than in meaning. Thus, according to
809:
20:
152:. In this 1899 photo, Justice Harlan is seated to his right, and Justice Peckham is standing to Harlan's right.
103:
53:
294:
Here is Pericles discussing "equal justice" according to the English translation by Richard Crawley in 1874:
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This phrase was suggested in 1932 by the architectural firm that designed the building. Chief Justice
586:
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110:
84:
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88:
722:
591:
389:
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via U.S. Supreme Court web site. At that time, the other members of the Commission were Senator
170:
727:
647:
625:
459:
Come Back to the Nickel and Five: Tracing the Warren Court's Pursuit of Equal Justice Under Law
707:
692:
606:
574:
558:
334:
796:
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663:
745:, Written 431 B.C.E, Translated by Richard Crawley (1874), retrieved via Project Gutenberg.
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401:
393:
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240:
134:
49:
678:
Equal Justice in the Balance: America's Legal Responses to the Emerging Terrorist Threat
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381:
330:
192:
64:
377:
838:
829:
741:
30:
95:
34:
The front of the Supreme Court Building, including the West Pediment sculpture by
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196:), the Court quoted the "equal...justice under...law" phrase that it had used in
570:
144:
312:
308:
186:
44:
is a phrase engraved on the West Pediment, above the front entrance of the
693:
Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices
284:
256:
218:
118:
589:. The Fuller Court most famously disagreed about equality issues in
490:
Cabraser, Elizabeth. "The Essentials of Democratic Mass Litigation",
267:
557:
Aside from Fuller, the members of the Court in 1891 were as follows:
280:
441:
Goodwin, Priscilla. "A Closer Look at the Bronze Courtroom Gates",
458:
148:
Chief Justice Fuller (front center) wrote for a unanimous Court in
266:
143:
74:
29:
402:
Court Gazing: Features of Diversity in the Supreme Court Building
634:, 399 U.S. 78 (1970), the Court held that six jurors are enough.
830:
Statue of Thurgood Marshall featuring "Equal Justice Under Law"
137:
wrote on behalf of a unanimous Court as follows, regarding the
19:"Equal justice" redirects here. For the television series, see
94:
The architectural firm that proposed the phrase was headed by
63:
jurisprudence, and has historical antecedents dating back to
708:
Law for the Public Speaker: Legal Aspects of Public Address
221:
case, and the opinion was written for the Court by Justice
160:
again referred to "equal...justice under...law". Like
799:(1987)(Thurgood Marshall, concurring in the judgment).
368:, Volume 2, p. 689 (Columbia University Press 1963).
79:
Justice Van Devanter (left) and Chief Justice Hughes
156:Later in 1891, Fuller's opinion for the Court in
52:It is also a societal ideal that has influenced
476:Lying Down Together: Law, Metaphor and Theology
247:The words "equal justice under law" are not in
71:Proposed by architects and approved by justices
492:Columbia Journal of Law & Social Problems
125:Based upon Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence
8:
486:
484:
259:given the size of the letters to be used.
607:The Collapse of American Criminal Justice
711:, p. 171 (Christopher Pub. House, 1958).
478:, p. 23 (Univ. of Wisconsin Press 1985).
420:
418:
416:
414:
357:
16:Societal ideal in the U.S. legal system
453:
451:
102:who at that time held the position of
494:, Vol. 45, p. 499, 500 (Summer 2012).
271:Pericles, Greek statesman and general
7:
742:The History of the Peloponnesian War
430:United States Supreme Court Yearbook
114:strong emphasis upon impartiality".
46:United States Supreme Court building
810:How To Handle A Texas-sized Lawsuit
509:DuPage County Bar Association Brief
255:was not short enough to fit on the
855:Legal history of the United States
696:, p. 145 (Hachette Digital 2010).
675:Mack, Raneta and Kelly, Michael.
323:several other English translations
14:
610:, p. 124 (Harvard U. Press 2011).
279:that he delivered in 431 BC, the
579:Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar
465:, Vol. 59, pp. 1305-1306 (2002).
318:History of the Peloponnesian War
396:, and Architect of the Capitol
378:West Pediment Information Sheet
681:, p. 16 (U. Mich. Press 2004).
511:(March 2000), via Archive.org.
25:equal justice (disambiguation)
1:
850:Political science terminology
543:(1891). Fuller's opinion in
463:Washington and Lee Law Review
426:Slogans to Fit the Occasion
303:The English translation by
263:Following ancient tradition
886:
780:Pericles's Funeral Oration
18:
54:the American legal system
21:Equal Justice (TV series)
505:"The Meaning of Justice"
109:In 1935, the journalist
104:Architect of the Capitol
443:Supreme Court Quarterly
347:Equality before the law
253:Equal Protection Clause
42:Equal justice under law
36:Robert Ingersoll Aitken
595:, 163 U.S. 537 (1896).
503:Peccarelli, Anthony.
445:, Vol. 9, p. 8 (1988).
400:. See Liu, Honxia. "
301:
272:
232:Robinson v. California
153:
80:
38:
23:. For other uses, see
644:Ughbanks v. Armstrong
563:Stephen Johnson Field
321:, of which there are
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209:Ughbanks v. Armstrong
147:
78:
33:
587:Henry Billings Brown
567:John Marshall Harlan
366:Charles Evans Hughes
227:John Marshall Harlan
207:In the 1908 case of
139:Fourteenth Amendment
111:Herbert Bayard Swope
85:Charles Evans Hughes
61:Fourteenth Amendment
631:Williams v. Florida
583:David Josiah Brewer
424:McGurn, Barrett. "
277:the funeral oration
89:Willis Van Devanter
793:Pennzoil v. Texaco
763:2016-06-07 at the
754:Jowett, Benjamin.
723:Yick Wo v. Hopkins
604:Stuntz, William.
592:Plessy v. Ferguson
390:Richard N. Elliott
273:
171:Plessy v. Ferguson
154:
81:
39:
865:Philosophy of law
818:(April 11, 1987).
575:Samuel Blatchford
559:Joseph P. Bradley
521:Caldwell v. Texas
392:, Representative
388:, Representative
335:Thurgood Marshall
289:Caldwell v. Texas
131:Caldwell v. Texas
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241:Cooper v. Aaron
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135:Melville Fuller
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50:Washington D.C.
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187:indictments
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664:358 U.S. 1
398:David Lynn
384:, Senator
353:References
313:Thucydides
309:Rex Warner
100:David Lynn
185:, murder
761:Archived
341:See also
285:Pericles
281:Athenian
257:pediment
219:burglary
215:Ughbanks
198:Caldwell
179:Caldwell
177:In both
162:Caldwell
150:Caldwell
119:Jim Chen
666:(1958).
650:(1908).
527:(1891).
432:(1982).
283:leader
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545:Leeper
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