DEUT11 Resh Lakish said: "Establish the [correct] judgment, and then render the decision (Sanhedrin 7b)

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DEUT12 See [[DEUT848]] Deuteronomy 16:20 justice DORFFDRAG 114-5

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DEUT14 See [[EXOD827]] Exodus 23:6 rights DORFFWITO 238-41

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DEUT13 See [[EXOD653]] Exodus 22:20 wrong TELVOL2 268

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DEUT18 It is a negative commandment that the judge should have no fear of a party to a lawsuit as Scripture says, you should not be afraid of the presence of any man [this verse]. Even if a man on trial is powerful, he should not be afraid of him that he may harm him. Now, as long as the judge does not know in which direction justice tends in the case, he can remove himself from the judgment, saying, "I am not bound to you [to have to try your case]." But from the time he hears their statements and knows which way the justice tends to lie in a case, he has no right to remove himself because he fears one of them, that he may injure him. Included in this is the rule that if a disciple is sitting before his master [when the instructor is trying a case] and he sees a point in favor of a poor man and to the disadvantage of a rich man, and he remain silent, he violates this probation.

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DEUT15 (Continued from [[LEV611]] Leviticus 19:17 reprove GATES 373-5). A person must expose himself to danger [Tehillim 10:3; I.e., has praised him for doing whatever he wants.] rather than bear upon his soul the sin of such a transgression. Our Sages said (Sotah 41a) regarding [King] Agrippas that he was reading from the Torah and when he reached the pasuk (Devarim 17:15), "You may not appoint over you a foreigner," his eyes shed tears, and they [all] said, "You are our brother!) [Agrippas was a popular leader, appointed by Rome. He was descended from Idumaean converts and hence halachically ineligible to be king. His mother was Jewish; see Sotah 41b, Tosafos s.v. oso.] At that moment, the Jewish people were sentenced to destruction for flattering Agrippas. [Although it was a dangerous situation, they should have remained silent.] One who sits in judgment must also not fear a mortal human being, the pasuk says [this verse], "Do not be afraid of any man." This category that we have mentioned [hero] is that of a wicked man belonging to two evil classes: lying and flattery joined together.

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DEUT16 [This verse]. We have been admonished herein to believe that no harm will befall us when we adjudicate justly, without any bias, as our Sages, z"l, said (Pesachim 8a), "The emissaries sent to perform a mitzvah face no harm, neither on their way nor on their return." This is what is meant by "for it is God's judgment" [I.e., and the judge is God's emissary to perform the mitzvah of adjudicating His judgment (Zeh Hasha'ar)] -- no harm will befall you from it.

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DEUT17 Flattery is divided into nine categories. The first category consists of the flatterer who recognizes his fellow man as wicked and deceitful, as spreading evil reports about the innocent, and as stealing from others, and who, nevertheless, comes and flatters him – – not flattering and praising him, but smoothing over his tongue for him, saying: "You committed no wrong in what you did." In this there are several transgressions and many punishments. First, he should have rebuked him for his sins. Not only does he not rebuke him, but he tells him, "You have not sinned," thus strengthening the hand of the evildoer. This flatterer further incurs punishment for not having been zealous on behalf of the truth and for abetting falsehood. And he is punished, in addition, for placing a stumbling block before the sinner, who, when being told that he has not sinned, does not repent of his evil and sins even more. Aside from the punishment he incurs because of the injury and affliction suffered by those the sinner has wronged, he will not reimburse or placate them because of his flattery. And he justifies a wicked man, about which it is written (Mishlei 17:15): "He who justifies the wicked and condemns the righteous--both of them are the abomination of Hashem." This applies all the more when the wrong of the sinner is known to others, and this one flatters him in public, telling him "You are pure and upright." He thereby desecrates the Blessed One's name and demeans law and judgment. A man must expose himself to danger rather than fall into this sin. Our Sages of blessed memory have told us (Sotah 41a-b) that once Agrippas [the King] was reading the Torah, and when he reached the verse (Devarim 17:15): "You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother," his eyes streamed tears [since he was a descendent of slaves], at which those who were with him said "Do not fear, Agrippas, you are our brother." At that moment the Jews brought down upon themselves the sentence of destruction, because they flattered Agrippas. Also one who sits in judgment must not fear any man, as it is written [this verse]. And flattery in this area increases punishment both for falsehood and flattery.

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DEUT19 See [[EXOD38]] Exodus 2:12 smote TZADIK 279-281

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DEUT20 [In allocating scare resources] … [i]f every other factor is equal, then the first person arriving or asking for the resource should be given first consideration. This can be demonstrated from a number of Jewish sources. When the Torah [this] verse tells us that in Judaism, all small and large court cases must be heard equally (there is, therefore, no Jewish concept of small-claims court and grand larceny), the Talmud (Sanhedrin 8a) explains that since favoritism is obviously not permitted, the verse is teaching us that cases must be heard in chronological order, that is, the order in which they originally come to the court, no matter what the size of the case. Therefore, the first case presented to the judges must be heard first. The Mishnah (Mishnah, Rosh Hashanah 1:2) describes how Jews are judged by God on Rosh Hashanah: as sheep pass by the shepherd one at a time, so, too, each Jew passes by God and is judged individually. The order of judging, therefore, like the sheep, is that whoever came first, is judged first. This concept has been codified (Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 15:1) and states that except for the scholar (due to his honor), all cases must be judged in order of appearance.

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