Legal process inrerxenes when in realir\’ it should prohahU' keep out. 1 am, I must insist, not attributing bad faith to the inventors of The Last I5est Cdiance. d'he\ are doing the best the\’ can in face of a serious problem. \\ hat realK re\ eals a procedure to us as 'The Last Best Cdianee is precisely that it is not used always where an outsider might expect it, but precisely where a dodge is needed. It is gi\en only limited scope. Legal historians and comparatixe lawxers must be on the lookout for Lhe Last Best Cdiance because it will alwaxs appear in its societx’ xvith enhanced importance, xet its precise signif'icance is not that xvhich appears. 'The Last Best Cdiance, as 1 conceixe it, is a sub-categorx’ of xxhat might be called ’'Lhe Second Best' in the laxv. The special character of 'Lhe Last Best CTance is that the fact that it is a last resort is concealed, and max’ not even be fully apparent to those involxed. 'Lo show xxhat 1 mean 1 select an example of 'The Second Best that is not The Last Best Cdiance, from Deuteronomx’ 21.iff. It, in the land rhar the l.ord xour (lod i.s gi\ ing x’oii to possess, a hodv is tound lying in open countrx', and ir is nor known wlio srruek rlie person down, 2. rlien rour elders and x'our judges shall come out ro measure the distances to the towns that are near the hodx. 3. i'he elders ot the town nearest the hodx' shall take a heifer that has nex er been worked, one that has not pulled in the xoke; 4. the elders ot that town shall bring the heiter down ro a wadi with running water, which is neither plowed now sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the wadi. 5. Lhen the priests, the sons ot Lexd, shall come forward, tor the Lord vinir Ciod has chosen them to minister to him and to pronounce blessings in the name ot the Lord, and by their decision all cases ot dispute and assaidt shall be settled. We need not fblloxx up the rest of the ritual. 'Lhe essential element that initiates the procedure is that a man is slain in open countrx’ and the murderer cannot be found. Something must be done. A ritual that is both religious and legal is found to expiate guilt. But that the 125
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