…So you shall purge the evil from Israel.
Deuteronomy 17:12 #shoftim

Compassion is not always a virtue. Sometimes compassion for the individual is hatred for the community. Per #torah, disobeying the ruling of the high court is declaring oneself to be above the law, and the punishment is death. Rabbis say that this rule only applies to lower judges who ignore the higher court's ruling. From the context, this seems plausible, but I'm not totally convinced.