Justice & Law Quote by Harold H. Greene

Courtrooms run on intimidation the way theaters run on lighting: not as an accident, but as a design choice. Harold H. Greene’s line lands because it admits that power isn’t just in verdicts and statutes; it’s in architecture, ritual, and language that tell ordinary people, wordlessly, that they don’t belong. “People are intimidated in court” is plainspoken, almost clinical, yet it smuggles in an indictment of the system’s default posture. Then comes the quiet disruption: “I try.” Not “I ensure,” not “I fix,” but an effortful, human-scale verb that recognizes how deep the machinery goes.

The intent is procedural and moral at once. A judge who makes people comfortable isn’t being soft; he’s protecting the accuracy of the record. Fear distorts testimony, confuses defendants, pressures victims and witnesses into silence, and nudges jurors toward deference rather than judgment. Comfort, in this sense, becomes a tool of truth-finding.

The subtext is a redefinition of judicial authority. Greene frames his role less as an aloof umpire and more as a steward of legitimacy: if people experience the court as hostile, they won’t trust outcomes, even fair ones. Coming from a late-20th-century American judge, the remark also sits inside a broader reckoning with access to justice, especially for those without money, education, or cultural fluency in legal settings. It’s a reminder that neutrality can be performative, but so can dignity - and the performance matters.