The front of the Supreme Court Building, including the West Pediment.

Equal Justice Under Law is a phrase engraved on the front of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington D.C. This phrase was apparently first written in 1932 by the architectural firm that designed the building. The Supreme Court building is the seat of the Supreme Court of the United States. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes subsequently approved this inscription, as did the United States Supreme Court Building Commission which Hughes chaired. Charles Evans Hughes Sr ( April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was a Lawyer and Republican politician from the State ^[1] The architectural firm that authored the phrase was headed by Cass Gilbert. Cass Gilbert ( November 29, 1859 &ndash May 17, 1934) was a pioneering American Architect. ^[2]

The words "Equal Justice Under Law" apparently paraphrase an earlier expression coined by Chief Justice Melville Fuller. Melville Weston Fuller ( February 11 1833 &ndash July 4 1910) was the Chief Justice of the United States between 1888 and 1910 ^[3] In the case of Caldwell v. Texas in 1891, Fuller wrote about the Fourteenth Amendment as follows:

By the Fourteenth Amendment 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 Fourteenth Amendment ( Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution is one of the post- Civil War Reconstruction Amendments, first ^[4]

Neither this entire sentence, nor even the last seven words, would have fit on a pediment or architrave of the U. A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure ( Entablature) typically supported by The architrave (also called epistyle or door frame) is a moulded or ornamental band framing a rectangular opening S. Supreme Court building, which explains why the architects would have wanted to shorten them. In the years since Fuller wrote these words, the Supreme Court has decided that the Fourteenth Amendment, and especially its Due Process Clause, do limit the powers of the states in dealing with crime. Due process (more fully due process of law) is the principle that a person has a right to receive notice and be heard in an orderly proceeding in order to protect his or her

The Funeral Oration of Pericles

Bust of Pericles, Roman copy after a Greek original from ca. 430 BC

The term "equal justice" dates back at least to the dawn of western civilization. In his funeral oration of 430 B. Pericles' Funeral Oration is a famous speech from Thucydides ' History of the Peloponnesian War. C. , the Athenian leader Pericles discussed this concept. Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's Pericles (also spelled Perikles) (c 495 – 429 BC Greek:, meaning "surrounded by glory" was a prominent and influential Statesman, orator Thus, Chief Justice Fuller was by no means writing on a clean slate when he referred to "equal and impartial justice under the law" in Caldwell v. Texas. There are several different English translations of the relevant passage in Pericles' funeral oration, and three of those English translations will now be quoted. Here is Pericles discussing "equal justice" according to the English translation by Richard Crawley in 1874:

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 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. ^[5]

Here is Pericles discussing "equal justice" according to the English translation by Benjamin Jowett in 1881:

Our form of government does not enter into rivalry with the institutions of others. Benjamin Jowett (April 15 1817 – October 1 1893 was an English scholar Classicist and theologian, and Master of Balliol College Oxford 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 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. ^[6]

And here is Pericles discussing "equal justice" according to the English translation by Rex Warner in 1954:

Our form of government does not enter into rivalry with the institutions of others. Rex Warner ( March 9 1905 - June 24 1986) was an English classicist, Writer and translator. 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. ^[7]

The funeral oration by Pericles was published in Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, of which there are several other English translations. Thucydides ( C 460 BC &ndash C 395 BC) ( Greek Θουκυδίδης Thoukydídēs) was a Greek The History of the Peloponnesian War is an account of the Peloponnesian War in Ancient Greece, fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by The History of the Peloponnesian War is an account of the Peloponnesian War in Ancient Greece, fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by

References

1. ^ West Pediment Information Sheet via U. S. Supreme Court web site.
2. ^ McGurn, Barrett. "Slogans to Fit the Occasion" Supreme Court Historical Society Yearbook (1982).
3. ^ Peccarelli, Anthony. "The Meaning of Justice", DuPage County Bar Association Brief (March 2000).
4. ^ Caldwell v. Texas, 137 U.S. 692 (1891).
5. ^ Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War, Written 431 B. C. E, Translated by Richard Crawley (1874), retrieved via Project Gutenberg.
6. ^ Jowett, Benjamin. Thucydides, translated into English, to which is prefixed an essay on inscriptions and a note on the geography of Thucydides, Second edition, Oxford, Clarendon Press (1900), via classicpersuasion. org.
7. ^ Pericles's Funeral Oration, translated by Rex Warner (1954), via wikisource.