The Trial And Free Salem - 1311 Words

Only surpassed by ministers as the most respected profession, magistrates wielded tremendous power in New England. Hand-in-hand with that power came the understanding that they would preserve the puritanical doctrine of the colonists. In the quest to maintain the purity of the colony, haste sometimes led to improper judgments, and the courts infrequently convicted those who were innocent in an effort to maintain the sanctity of the province. This situation manifests itself in Salem, where, in order to further their own personal desires to continue the trials and free Salem, the judges and prosecutors prefer to preserve their own veneer of authority over administering justice, rely on unreliable and easily manipulative witnesses, and fail†¦show more content†¦Danforth focuses on the affect that a postponement will have on his own reputation, and in essence says that he cannot stop the hangings now, as it will show the failure of the court in fairly adjudicating the fates of t hose previously accused of witchery. Instead of being concerned with providing justice. Danforth attempts to save his reputation from the shame that would follow a stay of execution. He only truly cares about on the personal consequences for his actions, rather than acting as an impersonal arm of the law and declares that â€Å"there will be no postponement.† Judge Danforth does not heed the pleas of Reverend Parris, but instead says that if he stops the trials and hangings now, it will imply weakness on his part and be detrimental to his reputation. This decision shows that he is continuing the trials because he is more concerned with his reputation than he is with administering justice. In their desire to eliminate all strains of witchcraft from Salem, the judges put their full trust on the afflicted children and rely on unreliable and discredited witnesses in order to justify their sentences. In a society where the word of children is typically not permissible in a court of law, the main source of testimony