No-body is above the law

As The Japan Times reported on May 16, 2007, Japanese media were relentless when a former judge Norimichi Kumamoto broke the silence of four decades and went public to confess that he in fact believed that Iwao Hakamada was not guilty when he and his senior judges sentenced the defendant to death ‘by consensus’. The media was harsh not for the fact that the former judge was unable to persuade his seniors to acquit him in the social pressure of the time forty years ago. They instead blamed the former judge for flouting a law prohibiting judges from disclosing deliberations.

Yes, nobody is above the law. That principle includes the former judge. He should be under the legal obligation to remain silent about the decision process in the court.

But, I mean, no-body is above the law.

Then, God is above the law, for he/she/it is no-body.

If I were him, I would have chosen to confess the wrongdoing as he did, for I respect something above the law more. At least I don’t want to join the criticism of the former judge, for I believe he did a right thing after he had done a wrong thing. Confession of the secret may constitute a legal crime, but turning away from God is a sin.