Chief Judge Laurie A. White, Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, New Orleans: The movie … And Justice for All became one of my favorites when it was first released. Initially, based on my naiveté about the criminal justice system, I viewed it one way; but as my career aged, my perspective changed.

Once I viewed the movie as a comedy, almost a cliché of criminal justice and a parody of the courts. As my experience grew, I saw a sensitive story involving a good lawyer, Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino), trying to help people. He was assisting people navigating the hurdles of punishment or victimization inflicted by the court system.

Now I have a new appreciation of this film from the perspective of being a judge in a busy criminal district court in a city with high crime. I see the story as more tragic and troubling now, compared to when I was a younger attorney, because of the two judges in the film. They are my favorite judges in any movie—but for paradoxical reasons, as they are not the judges I would ever want to emulate or appear before. Each judge is a beautiful example of what power can do to some people’s sense of self and their use of it. Judge Francis Rayford (Jack Warden) is the “crazy” judge. He carries a holstered gun under his robe and has used it in court to control disruptive antics. He may be considered suicidal (or an extreme risk-taker): whether he’s eating lunch outside of his chambers on the fourth-floor building ledge or testing whether he can fly his personal helicopter farther than his fuel might last before a crash landing.

As a viewer, I wondered whether Judge Rayford was always like that or he became that way because of what he has seen in his career. Can the heavy mantle of his judicial duties—the power and discretion and how he has used it, or not been able to use it—make him this way? Or is he fearless and courageous and has been that way for so long that it is now prevalent in every aspect of his life? Does he appear to be an adrenaline junkie or crazy because he is not afraid for his own safety? Despite these traits, Judge Rayford presents as the good judge.

Kirkland, the lawyer, is seeking justice for an innocent client but cannot get cold-hearted Judge Henry T. Fleming (John Forsythe) to exercise his discretion to give his client a deserving break. He is not asking the judge for anything unlawful but to just allow for mercy. Fleming does not cooperate, as he believes no one is innocent. Kirkland is sent to jail when he tries to physically strike the judge for his refusal to rule for his client.

Later in the movie, Judge Fleming is charged with a serious sexual crime and blackmails Kirkland into representing him at trial because it would benefit the judge for the jury to see his innocence proclaimed by a lawyer who publicly expressed his enmity for him.

Not only is Kirkland placed in a tenuous position by Judge Fleming, but he learns that this client is guilty. The movie shows what being a lawyer in the criminal justice system for a long time can turn you into, just like it did to those judges.

It brings Kirkland to a defining moment in the best-ever courtroom monologue, as played by Pacino: “You’re out of order! You’re out of order! The whole trial is out of order! They’re out of order!”

If you have spent any time in a busy criminal courtroom, maybe you’ve wanted to shout that, too.