Topic > Salem Court v. Proctor - 755

Cotton Mather “from: Wonders of the Unseen World.” contains an official court transcript of the trial of Martha Carrier. Carrier was accused of the crime of witchcraft, the evidence against her was ghostly evidence and testimony from other citizens. John Proctor faces a similar test in Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Proctor is eventually arrested for perjury and witchcraft after going against the court. The Salem trial was led by biased judges, who were given power through lying witnesses, creating a flawed court to execute John Proctor. The justice system itself had many flaws, as it lacked many components of a modern court. A court today would dismiss the case at the mention of a ghostly yellow bird attacking witnesses, but the Salem court fully accepted it as Mary Warren sent her form (106). Even if a court accepted spectral evidence as a viable option, the Salem court would still lack two key things: a jury and a defense attorney. Without an impartial jury, John Proctor's trial was left solely to the magistrates. These magistrates were biased and relied on the word of unreliable witnesses, and Proctor should have been represented by a defense attorney to simply question the children; thus the witness's lies would be revealed and conflicting accounts would be made. Danforth, however, states several times that Proctor had no need: "The pure in heart have no need of lawyers." (86). This turns out to be false as Proctor exposes his true crime of lust to the court, but is still hanged for witchcraft. Accompanied by the imperfect court, the judges were a great detriment to John Proctor's case. Judge Danforth visibly takes Abigail William's document... halfway through the document... I will leave and never come back!” (103). She later leaves Salem completely, leaving Danforth the truth behind, but he still refuses to see her. John Proctor was hanged after refusing to confess to the crime the court wrongly ruled he had committed. John Proctor was not only forced to defend himself from Abigail Williams and Judge Danforth, but he also sought to undermine the flawed Salem court. Proctor could not have fought against a law that privileges children over respected people (87), ghostly evidence over good opinions, and false testimony over actual confessions (105). The Salem Court was established to eradicate all witches found, not to give them due process. If John Proctor had been tried in a modern court, he would not even have made it to the witness stand; an impartial judge would have thrown him out before he reached the courtroom.