This article discusses stories from Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism that describe the plight of those who have been falsely accused of crimes. The stories offer a range of explanations for why justice may go awry. Most frequently they lay the blame upon the fact that the system depends on the honesty of the judge and the witnesses, but individuals cannot be counted on always to do the right thing. The paper argues that the Jain stories go one step further and reject the possibility that justice can ever be served through normal legal processes.
目次
1. Introduction 377 2. Human Fallibility and the Failure of Justice 381 3. The violence of justice and the silence of the condemned 389 4. The middle path: silence and deserved punishment 393 5. Conclusions 397
