Origins of a Justice-Related Phrase
There are conflicting accounts of who first noted the phrase. According to Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations, it is attributable to William Ewart Gladstone, but such attribution was not verifiable.[1] Alternatively, it may be attributed to William Penn, although not in its current form.
The idea expressed by the phrase can already be found in the Pirkei Avot 5:8, a section of the Mishnah (1st century BCE – 2nd century CE): "Our Rabbis taught: ...The sword comes into the world, because of justice delayed and justice denied...",[2] and the Magna Carta of 1215, clause 40 of which reads, "To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay, right or justice."
Martin Luther King, Jr., used the phrase in the form "justice too long delayed is justice denied" in his "Letter from Birmingham Jail", smuggled out of jail in 1963, ascribing it to "one of our distinguished jurists".
As Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger noted in an address to the American Bar Association in 1970: "A sense of confidence in the courts is essential to maintain the fabric of ordered liberty for a free people and three things could destroy that confidence and do incalculable damage to society: that people come to believe that inefficiency and delay will drain even a just judgment of its value; that people who have long been exploited in the smaller transactions of daily life come to believe that courts cannot vindicate their legal rights from fraud and over-reaching; that people come to believe the law – in the larger sense – cannot fulfill its primary function to protect them and their families in their homes, at their work, and on the public streets."[3]
See also[edit]
"Out of sight, out of mind", i.e., purposely delaying justice by hoping all parties forget the matter
Red tape, inefficiency which can delay legal resolutions
Statute of limitations, which forces injured parties to bring timely claims
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Suzy Platt
The idea expressed by the phrase can already be found in the Pirkei Avot 5:8, a section of the Mishnah (1st century BCE – 2nd century CE): "Our Rabbis taught: ...The sword comes into the world, because of justice delayed and justice denied...",[2] and the Magna Carta of 1215, clause 40 of which reads, "To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay, right or justice."
Martin Luther King, Jr., used the phrase in the form "justice too long delayed is justice denied" in his "Letter from Birmingham Jail", smuggled out of jail in 1963, ascribing it to "one of our distinguished jurists".
As Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger noted in an address to the American Bar Association in 1970: "A sense of confidence in the courts is essential to maintain the fabric of ordered liberty for a free people and three things could destroy that confidence and do incalculable damage to society: that people come to believe that inefficiency and delay will drain even a just judgment of its value; that people who have long been exploited in the smaller transactions of daily life come to believe that courts cannot vindicate their legal rights from fraud and over-reaching; that people come to believe the law – in the larger sense – cannot fulfill its primary function to protect them and their families in their homes, at their work, and on the public streets."[3]
See also[edit]
"Out of sight, out of mind", i.e., purposely delaying justice by hoping all parties forget the matter
Red tape, inefficiency which can delay legal resolutions
Statute of limitations, which forces injured parties to bring timely claims
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Suzy Platt
References: edit] Jump up ^ Suzy Platt (ed.). Entry 954. William Ewart Gladstone (1809–98). Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations Requested from the Congressional Research Service. Library of Congress, 1989. (Attributed to WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE. — Laurence J. Peter, Peter’s Quotations, p. 276 (1977). Unverified.) Jump up ^ 10 Minutes of Torah. Ethical Teachings Selections from Pirkei Avot. http://tmt.urj.net/archives/4jewishethics/052605.htm Retrieved 26 March 2013 Jump up ^ Burger, "What 's Wrong With the Courts: The Chief Justice Speaks Out", U.S. News & World Report (vol. 69, No. 8, Aug. 24, 1970) 68, 71 (address to ABA meeting, Aug. 10, 1970). Categories: AdagesClichés