Tasha Yar, Liator and others in “Unfinished Business”

Tasha Yar

What of justice to Wesley? Does he deserve to die?

Liator

[DELETED LINE] That is a moot issue, unfortunately. The law remains the law, regardless of whose favor it works in. Thus, the question becomes...Where is justice, save in equality?

Jean-Luc Picard

I'm truly sorry, Liator; but I must have justice for my people, too. Transporter Room, energize...Transporter Room, come in!

We can't energize the beam, sir. Everything checks out, but we're getting no results.

God has prevented your escape.

Beverly Crusher

Then your God is unfair. My son had no warning that his act was criminal.

We cannot allow ignorance of the law to become a defense.

Jean-Luc Picard

I don't know how to communicate this, or even if it is possible, but the question of justice has concerned me greatly of late. And I say, to any creature who may be listening, there can be no justice so long as laws are absolute. Life itself is an exercise in exceptions.

William Riker

When has justice ever been as simple as a rule book?

Liator

[DELETED LINE] For us, the effectiveness of justice has always gone hand-in-hand with its simplicity.

[DELETED LINE] Ever since any of us can remember, there have been two basic types...those who live by the law, and those who die by it. Thus, the question becomes, How can there be justice when laws are anything but consistent?

[DELETED LINE] Making one exception, regardless of circumstances, would compel us to make more...and then still more, until the law became -- we believe you have a phrase for it -- until it became "nothing but words on paper". [sneers] Evidently, your idea of a just legal system is one so complicated that nobody can be punished for anything.