There is no such thing as justice—in or out of court.

The line expresses a hard-edged skepticism about “justice” as an objective, reliably attainable reality. Read literally, it denies that courts deliver a neutral moral balance and extends that doubt to society at large (“in or out of court”), implying that outcomes are shaped by power, resources, prejudice, and contingency rather than by an abstract ideal. In Darrow’s orbit, such a sentiment aligns with a lawyer’s view that verdicts often reflect advocacy, class advantage, and public mood more than truth. The aphorism also functions as a provocation: if justice is not a given, then the best one can do is struggle for fairer procedures, mercy, and humane treatment rather than assume the system naturally produces moral rightness.