lady justice

One of the things that seems to work in the US is the legal system. For a lawyer practicing in a society that is still undergoing a transition from a "rule of men (sic)" into a "rule of law," it was consoling to hear that this wasn't always so. A little over a century ago, for example, immigration officials in New York State were notorious for taking bribes from immigrants.

Last week, I found out about the Supreme Court decision dismissing a judge from the service for her gross insubordination and gross misconduct. I actually have personal knowledge of this judge and her "collection agent's" unusual practices: come to think of it, their actions or solicitations probably wouldn't have been unusual had they not been made blatantly.

A former Supreme Court colleague told me that Chief Justice Puno is cracking down on corrupt judges. While the problem appears to be systemic and its resolution would entail a lot of adjustment on the part of lawyers and parties who benefit from the status quo, this is a good start. We have to think beyond the short-term- of what would benefit our country and, ultimately, ourselves and our children in the long run.

I found this letter of Jose Diokno to his son Chel while researching in the UP Law Library last week- it was as if the late Senator were speaking to me directly, answering questions I've had for some time. He wrote,

Increasingly, as you grow older, the values that you have learned from us, your parents, and from your Christian faith, will be called into question- by you or by others. Why be honest when it pays to be dishonest? Why be fair to others when they are unfair to you? Why fight for others when they won't fight for you- or even for themselves? Why think for yourself when it is easier to let others think for you? Why lead when it is less troublesome to obey? Why have principles when others don't- and they often get away with it? Why be good when it seems so much more pleasant to be bad?

The answer, I think, is in what life means to you. If life means having a good time, money, fame, power, security, then you don't need principles; all you need are techniques. In fact, it's better not to have principles; they would just get in your way. On the other hand, if life means more than those things, if happiness counts more than a good time, developing your talents more than developing wealth, respect more than fame, right more than power, and peace of soul more than security; if death doesn't end life but transforms it; then you must be true to yourself and to your God, and to love and truth, good and beauty, and justice and freedom, that are His other names and that He has made part of our human nature.

You will have to decide for yourself, Chel, which of those things life means to you. Neither I nor anyone else can decide this for you. But perhaps this will help you decide: That even those who know they do wrong feel compelled to convince others- and eventually themselves- that they are doing right. So the man of greed often gives generously to charity; the megalomaniac poses as a messiah; the coward hides his fear under the mask of being realistic; and the guilty wash away their guilt, like Pilate, by washing their hands with the excuse that "it isn't my choice" or "it isn't my job" or "I can't do anything about it."