A Time to Kill

“You big stupid idiot, thought Jake. How could he be confident at a time like this?” 

After the shooting, Jake is confused by Carl Lee’s confidence in him. Carl Lee believes that it will be easy for Jake to acquit a black man for shooting two whites in the South, simply because they raped his daughter. Carl Lee’s confidence is based on his relative ignorance of the legal system that will try him. 

“This case could make me famous and us a million bucks, in the long run.” 

The challenge of Carl Lee’s case excites Jake; he is also hungry for the publicity and opportunities the trial promises to bring. Jake is an ethical lawyer, but he is also eager to increase his profile. The practice of law is a passion, a duty, and a commercial enterprise for the attorneys in the novel, although some take a more mercenary, cynical approach than others.  

“There was a Clanton before the killings, and there was a Clanton after the killings, and it would be months before the two resembled each other.” 

Before the shooting, the roles of Clanton’s citizens are well-defined, and most accept the status quo. But the killings force people to take a stand on one side or the other. Whites who support Carl Lee are seen as race traitors by the racists. Blacks who already detest rednecks begin to see the rape as a justification for their loathing of ignorant whites. 

“He relished the thought of a long, nasty trial with his first real opportunity at real, meaningful exposure.” 

When Buckley hears about the case, he too is excited. The thought of a grueling trial is terrible to most characters in the novel, but, for Buckley, the case is a stepping stone to the Governorship and then perhaps to a run for Congress. By prosecuting Carl Lee, he can do more than serve justice for the people of Ford County; he can craft himself as an appealing candidate and advance his ambitions. 

“The system reflects society. It’s not always fair, but it’s as fair as the system in New York, or Massachusetts, or California. It’s as fair as biased, emotional humans can make it.” 

Jake explains his reasons for requesting a change of trial venue in a newspaper interview. He knows that racism is not unique to the South; racism exists everywhere, and the legal system reflects that. The system is not perfect because it has been created by fallible humans. Nonetheless, it may be the best system that people can make.

“The case had real potential. With the trial several months away, there was time to plan a rebellion.” 

Stump Sisson also views Carl Lee’s case as a means to advance his own agenda—in this instance, furthering the racist goals of the Ku Klux Klan. When Carl Lee killed Cobb and Willard to punish them for the rape, he did not anticipate that his crime would become a tool for so many others. 

“We’ll pick us a good jury, twelve good and faithful citizens, then we’ll buy them.”

Harry Rex makes this comment as a joke early on in the book, but as the trial proceeds and readers learn more about how juries and attorneys work—sometimes unethically—the joke takes on new meaning. The idea that a jury exists only to pursue justice is cast in a cynical light. Various versions of justice can be purchased if a juror is corruptible. 

“My instinct is to forgive anyone who kills a rapist. Especially a father. But we can’t allow people to grab guns and hand out their own justice.” 

A Coffee Shop waitress empathizes with Carl Lee. Like many other characters, she can understand how a father would want to kill the men who raped his daughter. But if everyone was allowed to pursue their own definition of justice, law enforcement would be irrelevant and arbitrary, and society would grow destabilized. 

“But the system was not working now. It was conspiring to keep him in jail, to break him, to make orphans of his children.” 

Carl Lee’s frustrated thoughts reveal his relative ignorance of the legal system. He thought that Jake would be able to get him out of jail quickly because Jake had done the same for his brother Lester. Carl Lee does not see the difference between the two men’s crimes as clearly as Jake does. To Carl Lee, the system becomes, not only something unwieldy and unfair, but also rigged against him. 

“I got the smartest, meanest, crookedest criminal lawyer in these parts.” 

Cat Bruster convinces Carl Lee to fire Jake and hire Bo Marsharfsky. The fact that Marsharfsky is corrupt is a positive trait for Cat: He is a lawyer who knows how to game the system, which is why Cat has never been indicted for his own crimes. That Marsharfsky, a known crook, can profit from the legal system exemplifies its imperfections. 

“It’s a fragile system, this trusting of lives of twelve average, ordinary people who do not understand the law and are intimidated by the process.” 

Reverend Isaiah Street explains his worries about the case to Carl Lee. He reminds him that jurors are not professionals—they are normal people thrown into a situation that may exceed their capacities. The system is fragile because it is executed by people who are neither omniscient, infallible, or incapable of being swayed be greed or fear.

“Your acquittal by a white jury for the killings of two white men will do more for the black folks of Mississippi than any event since we integrated the schools. And it’s not just Mississippi; it’s black folk everywhere. Yours is a most famous case, and it’s being watched by people everywhere.” 

Reverend Street tells Carl Lee that his case is bigger than himself. Carl Lee has become a symbol of the black plight in the South and everywhere else in America. The stakes are higher than Carl Lee realized. Street’s sentiment shows that even Carl Lee’s most sincere supporters also wish to use his case to advance their own causes.  

“Blacks had an excuse for being worthless, but for whites in a white world, there were no excuses.” 

On his return to Clanton, Lester sees rows of dilapidated houses owned by poor whites. Wealthy whites own the power in the South; they control blacks’ sense of worth, their opportunities, and their aspirations. On the other hand, whites who become poor and worthless, in Lester’s view, do so despite their opportunities.

“The people were tired of being described as backward, redneck, and racist.” 

The trial brings out-of-town reporters to Clanton. In their articles, they are quick to alienate citizens by characterizing them as inferior. The generalization doesn’t operate on the same level as the larger racism at work in the novel, but it does function to categorize and diminish people in a way that is hard to fight against. 

"Buckley is talking to the local bigots and pumping them up and telling how this no-good nigger might be acquitted if the trial is moved."

Lucien reveals that Buckley is willing to stoop to unethical means to gain an advantage in the case. He suggests that Jake needs to be willing to do the same, a theme he revisits when he later offers to buy a juror’s vote. Buckley’s actions are not for the pursuit of justice but simply a means to win. He is willing to compromise morality to avoid losing.

“Their crimes were barbaric. Death is too good for them.” 

Jake and Ellen argue about the death penalty. Jake believes that it should be used more often because there are people who, in his view, obviously do not deserve to live. He believes the world would be a better place if any known rapist or murderer could be executed quickly to protect the rest of the world from them, eliminating the possibility that a legal mistake might exonerate a criminal.

“Make friends with fear, Lucien always said, because it will not go away, and it will destroy you if left uncontrolled.” 

Lucien advises Jake to be himself in the courtroom, even if he has to show that he is afraid. Jurors can detect insincerity, and false courage. Lucien points out that the jurors are afraid as well, so they will identify more strongly with a lawyer who is willing to show that he feels intimidated. 

“He spoke without notes, and held the courtroom captivated as he portrayed himself as the underdog, the friend and partner of the jury, who, together with him, would find the truth, and punish this man for his monstrous deed.” 

During his opening argument, Buckley tries to get the jurors to feel that he and they are on the same side against the forces of violent chaos, which Carl Lee’s vigilantism represents. He speaks of finding the truth, even though the truth—Cobb and Willard raped Tonya, and Carl Lee killed them in retaliation—is already known.

“Carl Lee Hailey now sat before them asking for due process and a fair trial, yet he did not believe in such things. Ask the mothers of Billy Ray Cobb and Pete Willard.” 

Buckley insists that Carl Lee’s actions are contradictory. He should not expect a fair trial when he denied the same to Cobb and Willard. Legally, Buckley is not wrong. But, as the jury’s verdict shows, the concept of justice is more malleable than legal definitions. Buckley is trying to convince the jury that the injustice done to Cobb and Willard is worse than that done to Tonya. In the end, none of the jurors will agree.

“We oughtta give him a trophy.” 

On the stand, despite having lost his leg to Carl Lee’s bullet, Looney insists that Carl Lee is a hero. He forgives him. Not only that, he insists that Carl Lee should be rewarded for his actions. The fact that Looney can forgive the man who shot him makes it harder for the jury not to see themselves as vindictive if they convict. 

“Why is that important?” 

After the marksman fails to shoot Jake but wounds a soldier instead, Jake is stunned and numb. When Ozzie points out that he is covered in blood, Jake asks why that matters. At that point, he has seen how far people are willing to go to stop him from helping Carl Lee. His own ambitions and desires now seem petty. 

“I believe in tears in the jury box. It’s very effective.” 

After Bass’s disastrous testimony, Jake believes they are going to lose. But Lucien encourages him to focus solely on the emotions of the jurors. If Jake can make them cry during the closing argument, they are more likely to vote to acquit. When the facts are not enough to win the case, Lucien believes in resorting to any sort of manipulation to gain an advantage. 

“With murder, the victim is gone, and not forced to deal with what happened to her. The family must deal with it, but not the victim. But rape is much worse. The victim has a lifetime of coping, trying to understand, of asking questions, and the worst part, of knowing the rapist is still alive and may someday escape or be released. Every hour of every day, the victim thinks of the rape and asks herself a thousand questions. She relives it, step by step, minute by minute, and it hurts just as bad.” 

During Jake’s closing argument, he tries to persuade the jury that rape can be a crime worse than murder. For the murder victim, there is nothing to recover from. For the rape victim, there is a lifetime of fear and doubt—and the possibility that the rapist may return.