About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


20 Rutgers J. L. & Religion 1 (2019-2020)

handle is hein.journals/rjlr20 and id is 1 raw text is: THE HUNT FOR WITCHES AND JEWS: HATRED INFUSED WITHIN THE LAW LaSheyna T. Alexander* I. INTRODUCTION The law should not be a vehicle of hate, but rather an instrument of fair judgement ... here, as everywhere.1 As such: The law demands three things: (1) that the defendant be charged with a punishable crime; (2) that he have full opportunity for defense; and (3) that he be judged fairly on the evidence by a proper judicial authority. Should it fail to meet any one of these three requirements, a trial would not be justice.2 Under this test, both the Salem Witch Trails of 1692 to 1693 and the court trials enforcing the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 in Nazi Germany fail. The focus of this article will be to show how authorities may use the law as a weapon to accomplish their own ends at the expense of human lives and dignity. First, the Nuremberg Laws in Nazi Germany alongside the witchcraft laws established in Salem, Massachusetts during the Witch Trials are outlined, followed by a * Associate Nuremberg Editor, Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion; Juris Doctorate Candidate May 2020, Rutgers Law School. 1 Henry L. Stimson, The Nuremberg Trial: Landmark in Law, 25 FOREIGN AFF. 179, 180 (1947). 2 Id.