Oxford University Press's
Academic Insights for the Thinking World

  • Author: Susan McCarter

Social Work

The myth of a color-blind justice system in America

Ever wonder why Lady Justice looks the way she does? She is modeled after the Roman goddess Iustitia and is an allegorical personification of the justice system. She is usually depicted with a scale in one hand, a sword in the other, and wearing a blindfold. Why? Well, she is to use the scale to weigh the evidence.

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