THE LAW: The Work of Justice

*The re-enactment was to be held in the same St. Louis courthouse in which the Dred Scott case was tried—it remains standing as a museum piece. The case actually began as a simple assault and battery action. Scott, a slave, was mistreated by his owner, eventually brought suit for his freedom and won a favorable verdict in the trial court. That verdict was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice Roger Taney, which held that because Scott was a slave he had no rights of citizenship, and therefore the courts lacked jurisdiction. *Said Jackson to a backwoods Tennessee jury: "Do what is right between these parties. That is what the law always means." *Wyzanski also tells a story: "About 1915, Mr. Justice Holmes invited a then young U.S. district judge, Learned Hand, to accompany him as he rode toward the Capitol to sit on the Supreme Court of the U.S. As they approached their destination, the district judge left the carriage and, waving farewell, called out 'Do justice, sir.' Sharply he was summoned back. 'Sonny, you don't understand my job; it is to apply the law.'" Learned Hand clings still to the Holmesian tradition. Says he: "The aim of law is the maximum gratification of the nervous system of man."