Lessons about Civility Lawyers Can Learn from the Trial of JesusJohn W. Welch, February 15, 2014

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Burnside, Jonathan. God, Justice, and Society: Aspects of Law and Legality in the Bible. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.

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Welch, John W. “Latter-day Saint Reflections on the Trial and Death of Jesus.” Clark Memorandum (Fall 2000): 2–13.

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Jonathan Burnside’s Semiotic Observations Concerning the Miscarriage of Justice

1. Innocent people can attract false allegations and charges.

2. Miscarriages of justice can be triggered by moral panics linked to high profile events.

3. Issues, charges and evidence that are individually weak in themselves can combine to improve

cases against defendants who may be entirely innocent.

4. Case construction can lead to the creation of false evidence.

5. Certain elements of a case can wrongly come to outweigh countervailing evidence.

6. Miscarriages of justice can be made to seem legitimate.

Ploys or Tactics that Figured in the Trial of Jesus

Stereotyping instead of seeing individual differences.

Falsely accusing people who are unusual, abnormal, or from the margins.

Showing favoritism to the rich or disregard to the poor.

Following the crowd, especially in cases of moral panic or fear.

Trawling for evidence.

Allowing case construction to lead to the fabrication of evidence.

Giving undue credence to the experts.

Thinking that an accumulation of weak evidence will add up to a strong case.

Using a paid informant; accepting bribes or gifts; overusing money.

Being unclear about the charges or claims one is asserting.

Following false rumors.

Perpetrating lies or material omissions.

Not really attempting to negotiate or to find a better solution.

Allowing perjury or using suborned witnesses.

Disallowing communications with friends or counselors.

Not caring about a suspect’s or opponent’s physical condition or comfort.

Not listening to others or trying to understand things from their position.

Taking advantage of an imbalance of power between the state and the individual.

Capitalizing on a home-court advantage.

Abusing those who are away from home or unfamiliar with the process.

Being rude or using demeaning treatment.

Rejecting out of hand any offers of settlement or requests for clemency.

Constantly keeping the other party off balance, uncertain about what might happen next.

Trying to get people to say things that are not in their best interest.

Manipulating the timing, either rushing the procedure or delaying the process.

Denying clemency, even when alternatives are reasonably offered.

Disregarding innocence of an individual in order to make a public example.

Shunting the blame or passing the buck of responsibility onto someone else.

Wanting to assign blame rather than achieve a good result.

The World’s Earliest Code of Professional Responsibility (Exodus 23)

1. Thou shalt not bring up a false rumor or report (23:1).

2. Thou shalt not collude with a wicked person as a false witness (23:1).

3. Thou shalt not follow the crowd with intent to do evil (23:2).

4. Thou shalt not speak against the majority to pervert justice (23:2).

5. Thou shalt not be partial toward any party in a lawsuit (23:3).

6. Thou shalt not deny justice to the poor in a lawsuit (23:6).

7. Thou shalt stay away from lies (23:7).

8. Thou shalt not execute the innocent or righteous (23:7).

9. Thou shalt not take a bribe or a gift (23:8).

10. Thou shalt not oppress a resident alien (23:9).