A system of law presents at least two faces: a sheltering force protecting citizens’ rights, and a potentially oppressive instrument of control. These two aspects of the law have revealed themselves powerfully during thirty-five years on the bench. Fiction can vividly portray the dilemmas posed by a legal system. A discussion of these challenges may help us to understand law’s essential role, while allowing us to recognize and confront its imperfections. Judge Ponsor serves as a senior US district judge in the United States District Court for the Massachusetts Western Division. He is the author of two New York Times bestseller novels, The One-Eyed Judge and the Hanging Judge, featuring Judge Norcross.