Justice sits on a throne, a sword raised vertically in one hand and a set of scales in the other. The sword is double-edged — truth cuts both ways. The scales are level. There is no smile in the figure's face, but also no cruelty.
Classical readings call this fairness, but the more accurate phrase is honest weighing. Justice is not the abstract concept of right and wrong; it is the practical act of seeing what is actually on the scale. Cause and effect, action and consequence, claim and evidence. Justice does not soften the picture to spare anyone's feelings. She also does not exaggerate it to make a point.
Reversed, the same scale tips toward bias. Self-serving accounting, half-told stories, the kind of "fairness" that is fairness only from one angle. The shadow of Justice is the person who has confused being right with being honest.
When Justice appears, the reading is often pointing at a place where the books need to be opened — to others, or to yourself. What has actually happened? Who is owed what? What have you been double-counting?
One card, one frame. Justice rarely operates alone.