My fellow citizens of Maycomb County, despite the dour circumstance, I do hope that you are filled with pride to be partaking in one of the foundational cornerstones of this great country. These United States of America were founded by men who long ago convened in a room not so different from this one to draft our nation’s constitution; thus creating order from anarchy by instilling within our an uncompromisable  society rule of law. Our founding fathers and the doctrines they created are the shining pillars of what we as Americans should aspire to be. Our very constitution commands us, “the people of the United States”, to “establish justice” “in order to form a more perfect union” (The Preamble,US, 1789).

However, even before they were the framers of our constitution and our state, when they were common citizens, who walked the streets among colonial subjects oppressed by the tyrannical power of Great Britain, they still carried within them the drive to be decent human beings who would stand up for what was just and right, not only for their own people, but for all of mankind.

Take the example of delegate and eventual President of the United States, John Adams, who, in the aftermath of the Boston Massacre, defended in a court of law a British officer who had been wrongly accused of purposefully firing off the first shot with intent to kill American colonists. There was evidence to substantiate the fact that the British soldier had no intent to kill American colonists, and was actually victim to hysteria-driven violence and beatings at the hands of the colonists. John Adams, American attorney, eventual founding father, and patriot chose to defend that British officer for no other reason than to be in the service of justice, an equalizer which knows no factional bounds.

Surely this act is unexpected for someone who would go on to expel the British from America and lead this new country to a glory unlike the world has ever known. You may question how this man’s inconsistent actions towards the British. The fact of the matter is that Adams’ defense was borne of a righteous drive to uphold justice regardless of any petty prejudices he may have had. John Adams, an American founder and hero, and the constitution he would create, demonstrate to all of us that it is our sacred duty to cast our biases and prejudices aside and simply defend the innocent. To deny any man this decency is to strip them of our Declaration of Independence’s proclamation that we, as Americans, hold “to be self-evident” the truth that “all men are created equal” and are “endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights” (The Declaration of Independence, US, 1776)

It is with the example set by our forefathers and our statal doctrines in mind that we now turn to Tom Robinson: a man wrongly accused of beating and raping Miss Mayella Ewell. My fellow citizens, “the state has not produced one iota of medical evidence” (TKAM, 1:32:09 – 1:32:12) that ties Tom Robinson to this crime, and you have witnessed indisputable proof that Tom Robinson is physically incapable of committing a physical aggression perpetrated by left hand, as Miss Ewell’s were.

However, we cannot ignore the elephant in the room. Tom Robinson is a black man. Some assume that “all negroes are immoral beings, [and] all negro men are not to be trusted around white women” (TKAM, 1:36:02 – 1:36:12) . However, we must realize that these assumptions are “immoral assumptions” and are themselves “lie[s]” (TKAM, 1:36:22 – 1:36:24) We are told thusly by President Abraham Lincoln, who instituted the a series of constitutional amendments to ensure that black men and women are treated as equals under the eyes of the law, therein helping our country to further fulfill the promises of our legal system and the proposition that all men are created equal, and should thus be treated as such.

My fellow citizens, our American contemporaries John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, and our constitution have demonstrated to us that justice is blind. She is unaware and concerned with the color or creeds of the accused, instead, she is concerned only with providing for the greater good. Just as John Adams defended an innocent man regardless of his affiliation, it is time for you too to defend an innocent man regardless of his color. Please know that should you fail to acquit Tom Robinson, you have proven yourselves to be not only irredeemably blind to the ethical responsibilities of justice herself, but also deaf to the commandments of our founding fathers and our great American tradition.

In the name of all that we hold sacred as Americans, I pray you see to it that justice is served.

Works Cited

• US Constitution, Preamble, 1789
• US Declaration of Independence , 1776
• To Kill a Mockingbird. Robert Mulligan. Universal Studios, 1962. www.imdb.com.web. September 13, 2017.