Justice without context can become cruelty wearing a rulebook.

Rules exist because judgment alone is unreliable, but applying them without regard to circumstance produces its own harm and does it with a clean conscience. The person enforcing feels correct, sometimes even righteous, because the procedure was followed exactly. That certainty is precisely what makes it hard to notice the damage.

When you are the one applying a rule, ask what it was written to prevent and whether this case is what it had in mind. Where the answer is no, at least name the gap out loud instead of hiding behind the letter of it.