The Erosion of Confidence in American Justice

By Lee Cary

A disturbing number of senior officials in several U.S. Federal Government Departments and Agencies seem to have forgotten—if they ever knew—the story behind the words “liberty and justice for all”.

Once upon a time, not all that long ago, students in their first year in public schools began the day by standing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, ending with the words “...with liberty and justice for all”.

Sholem Aleichem (1859-1916, born Solomon Naumovich Rabinovichm, in Pereyaslav, Russian Empire—now Ukraine) was a Yiddish author and playwright. The musical “Fiddler on the Roof” is based on one of his stories. As recalled here, another of his stories went like this: There was a poor Ukrainian village with a rabbi who would, when someone was ill, go to a special place in the country and, standing alone, say a special prayer for the sick. And the prayer would soon be answered. Overtime, a new rabbi came to the village, and when someone was sick, he, too, would go to that same special place, but he would stand silently, for he did not know the words of the prayer. Yet, his prayers, too, would be answered. Years later, another rabbi came to the village, and when sickness came, he knew neither the place to go, nor the prayer to recite. But he did know the story, and in remembering the story, his prayers were answered.

The original version of the Pledge, written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, read: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
The words, “with liberty and justice for all,” recited by America’s Kindergarten students, instilled a credo, a core of the nation’s cultural values, into those who

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