Litigation

King Legacy Includes Hope for the ?Bank of Justice?

By JAS Staff

When he was alive, Martin Luther King, Jr. found America’s justice system closed to him. On Monday, our courts will close to honor him. It is an appropriate tribute to his legacy.

From his famous “I Have a Dream” speech delivered in August 1963, most people remember Dr. King’s dream “that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

There was another hallmark statement of hope that Dr. King delivered that day, but it is remembered less well. He declared:

“We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.”

The justice system failed Dr. King, but he never gave up hope. Almost 50 years later, the civil rights movement  has made America’s justice system better. When King and his allies pressed the courts to stare hard at the Constitution, they ultimately delivered a series of rulings that put America’s liberty on firmer ground.

The work that Dr. King began remains unfinished, however. Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s elevation to the Supreme Court in 2009 was the latest milestone for diversity at the pinnacle of our justice system. But diversity has been slow coming to the courts.  As a 2009 Brennan Center for Justice report noted, “The United States is more diverse than ever, but its state judges are not.”

When citizens enter the courtroom and find diversity lacking, it often fosters public doubt–especially among minorities–that courts are truly fair and impartial. It fosters doubt that a litigant or defendant facing a judge, to paraphrase Dr. King,  “will not be judged by the color of [his] skin but by the content of [his] character.” And it fosters doubt that the “security of justice” will be ensured.

He gave us many gifts, and the promise of justice is  high on the list. On Monday, when we remember his legacy, we would do well to redouble  efforts to increase diversity in our courts and build up the “bank of justice,” a keystone in ensuring our liberties.

For videotaped interviews about the impact of the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education impact on America, click here, and about its impact on the courts, click here.

Full post as published by The Gavel on January 14, 2010 (boomark / email).