All lives matter. The question is not which ones matter more; the question is which color is more powerful. I am not talking about skin color, but the color of the uniform. Is the black robe or the blue uniform more powerful? Is it the judge who rules from the bench or the police officer who enforces the law more important?
From one perspective we can say that it is the police officer who enforces the law. Since without police, the judge can say whatever they want from today to tomorrow—it will not change a thing if the law cannot be applied. On the other hand, we need the judge to make the call, to say who is right and who is wrong. Without judges, there is no law and order to begin with.
However if all the judge is doing is telling us what we should already know on our own, then the officer is surely the more important player here. After all, police make sure that we live in a civil society by implementing the law in our lives. True, we might not know the law, but that is out of ignorance; or we might know the law but we disagree about how to interpret the law.
There is yet another way of viewing judges. They can be teachers. They have the opportunity to delve into the law to see if there is anything unique in a particular case, both in its unique circumstances and to see if people can learn from it. The judge has the opportunity to learn and to teach, and even to come up with new ideas within the framework of the law. By doing so, the judge is not just telling us what the law says; they are informing and forming people. They are teaching us how to lead productive lives, and bringing peace not only in their courtrooms but to society as a whole. That is how they can become true leaders.
Yes, we need the officers to enforce the law, but for judges to be truly important they need to be influencers.