The Rights of the Accused

Long before there was the U.S. Bill of Rights, there were powerful protections on the accused. The Biblical punishments could be very harsh at times, but there were some powerful checks as well.

15. One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.

16. If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;

17. Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;

18. And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;

19. Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.

20. And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.

21. And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

--Deuteronomy 19

Well, no one police officer or other witness would be able to convict on just his own word under this standard. It requires at least two witnesses. And look at the penalty for perjury! This would be quite a disincentive against corruption for criminal matters. It would also be quite a disincentive in civil matters as well if we applied this idea to frivolous lawsuits and naming defendants who are not truly at fault but merely have deep pockets.

18. Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

19. Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.

20. That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

-- Deuteronomy 16

I wonder what the “gift” in verse 19 refers to. Is it referring just to gifts to the judges? Or does this extend to witnesses as well? If the latter, I would note that we have a HUGE violation of this principle going on in our judicial system: plea bargaining. It has become routine to allow lesser criminals to reduce the accusation against them in return for testifying against those with whom they worked. This is a huge bribe! Time away from jail is valuable!

Even if verse 19 just refers to judges, plea bargaining is a gross violation of other principles. We have punishments no longer based on the magnitude of the crime. We also bypass the need for credible witnesses in many cases, since the plea bargaining process can be used to intimidate people into confessions.

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