The only way to be innocent was to accuse someone else or to deny it and get put in prison or hanged. Twenty innocent lives were lost during the Witch Trials and it's hard to say how many more were lost during the Mccarthy Trials as there were 75,000 people accused. Many going into the trials said the court is just trying to help which leads to John Proctor referring to Pontius Pilate after Hale says,“‘Proctor, the court is just’” because like him, Reverend Hale had refused to take a side. Pilate allowed Jesus to be put in jail based on Sanhedrin allegations he knew were not true. Pilate didn’t try to intervene and stop the crucification, all because he was the governor and had the power to do so. Reverend Hale can tell that the witch claims are false but he does what the people want. He could of stopped many from being hung, but didn't because it was his voice against the peoples. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller Hale is doing everything in his power to stay out of the disagreements by allowing the people to choose, which is very similar to Pontius Pilate imprisoning Jesus based on Sanhedrin’s