Oct. 6, 2025
Fairness in court should not mirror the randomness of war
War teaches luck matters. So does the law. Survival in court often depends on which lawyer, judge, or county you get -- not just your merits. To make justice fair, we need funding parity, standardized protocols and consistent representation -- so outcomes aren't left to chance.
Eugene M. Hyman
Judge (Ret.)
Santa Clara County Superior Court
Santa Clara Univ Law School
Eugene is a retired judge of the Santa Clara County Superior Court, where for 20 years he presided over cases in the criminal, civil, probate, family and delinquency divisions of the court. He has presided over an adult domestic violence court and in 1999 presided over the first juvenile domestic violence and family violence court in the United States.
War teaches hard lessons about fairness, or rather the lack of it. While still a practicing attorney many years ago, I represented a Vietnam veteran who told me, "I can't remember how many times the guy to my left and right died while I walked away without a scratch." He knew he wasn't the toughest or the best trained, fate had simply dictated he'd walk away, and his comrades wouldn't.
Unfortunately, navigating our civil and criminal justice systems ofte...
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