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What does justice mean
Is there racial bias in the Justice system
The role of justice in society
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Justice defines our society. It is discussed daily on many different mediums, over countless subjects ranging from law to personal matters, or even international relations. Did the wrongdoer receive justice or did they get away with something that they should not have? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary states that justice is “the process or result of using laws to fairly judge and punish crimes and criminals.” Although the definition is quite simple it is the act of deciding whether or not justice has truly been served that is not so black and white. Alternative views on the severity of crimes and personal opinions create a nearly impossible environment for justice to be served to all. Verdicts often cause a notion of justice or indifference to resonate throughout the masses, but rarely do the individuals personally involved in the situations feel that same notion following the verdict. The law tries to define what is justice for the general populous, but every person can find a penalty that they feel does not match the crime committed. Legislators choose to ignore these outliers, the few wackos …show more content…
Unfortunately this does not happen people are often not only judged on the enacted crime, but also on their social and racial backgrounds. Depending on your own opinion, this bias can either help eliminate injustice or magnify it. By definition, though, human perspectives should not be included on whether a decision is just, the decision should just be based on the crime and how it relates to the law with no alteration due to feelings provoked by the crime or the criminal’s background. Justice can not be given out with the approval of the entire population due to feelings of injustice produced by the laws themselves and biased opinions on the criminal's social and racial background and
In “The Moral Ambivalence of Crime in an Unjust Society” by Jeffrey Reiman he offers a detailed explanation of many different ways to define justice and allows the reader to fully comprehend the meaning of it. Before he even began explaining justice he gave his own experience with crime as way to convey to the reader how his rights had been violated and he had been filled with anger at the criminals instead of the justice that failed him. This first hand encounter with crime allowed Reiman to prove to readers that justice is what is what protects us and it is the criminals who are the problem. To see that even a man who had thought and written about nothing but crime for thirty-five years could still become
The collateral consequences of criminal convictions rather than the direct result are known as “invisible punishments”. In his article “Invisible Punishment”, Travis discusses the unintended consequences that punishes an individual beyond the formal sentence. Criminals are not only punished once for their crimes, they are punished twice, and these invisible punishments follow them throughout their lifetime. Travis explains that these punishments are a form of “Social exclusion”, not purposely designed but merely due to operation of law.
There is a fine line between justice and
The task of identifying my social identity was easier said than done. I acknowledged the somewhat privilege I encounter along with the oppression I endure. In retrospect, my social identity unambiguously resembles a coin where on one side oppression lies with dirt rusting but on the flip side privilege stares right back at me, shining bright. I initially could not see the benefits since I’m a low income college student. I became too encompassed with one side of the coin. After we learned what the word, privilege, indeed meant, I realized the various facets of my life in which that word could apply. Self pity can greedily advance on you from out of nowhere thus averting you from flipping the coin. I familiarized with counting my struggles instead of my blessings. In accordance with my social identity I would say I’m privileged with the
The criminal justice system is defined as the system of law that is used for apprehending, prosecuting, defending, and even sentencing people who are guilty of criminal offenses. In many cases, race, class, gender, and even sexuality can impact due process and fairness within the criminal justice system. Sometimes if people don’t think they have a choice to receive justice, they may want to take law into their own hands. Whereas Others will try to get a lawyer so they can take it to court and follow the judicial systems laws to try convict the criminal. In certain situations as a defendant, your race, class, and gender can make a negative impact on the criminal justice response to the crimes. In the movies “Thelma and Louise,” “The Accused,”
After many discussions involving this topic in the course, I was able to define justice and what it means to me. Although I do not currently work in the field, the classmates who have experience in the field brought great personal experiences to the discussions. University of Phoenix has also contributed to my definition of justice through the facilitators. The facilitators currently work in the field they are teaching and that involves the entire criminal justice field.... ...
The statement "It is better that 10 guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer" summarises and highlights the mistakes and injustices in the criminal justice system. In a just society, the innocent would never be charged, nor convicted, and the guilty would always be caught and punished. Unfortunately, it seems this would be impossible to achieve due to the society in which we live. Therefore, miscarriages of justice occur in the criminal justice system more frequently than is publicised or known to the public at large. They are routine and would have to be considered as a serious problem in our society. The law is what most people respect and abide by, if society cannot trust the law that governs them, then there will be serious consequences including the possible breakdown of that society. In order to have a fair and just society, miscarriages of justice must not only become exceptional but ideally cease to occur altogether.
Although, this appeal was noted to have created an unbalanced tension between the accused and victim, it is evident that the court was trying to balance these tensions between the individuals. The rule of law is another way where tensions between individuals and society can be similarly balanced. The rule of law ensures that no other is placed above the law. For individuals, the accused is able to be rightly punished, receiving justice for their actions and the victim’s reassurance, instead of the accused being able to receive special treatment and receiving an unfair sentence that does not reflect their actions. In the R v Xie, the verdict was unable to be decided instantly due to the lack of evidence allowing
“ ….Judgments, right or wrong. This concern with concepts such as finality, jurisdiction, and the balance of powers may sound technical, lawyerly, and highly abstract. But so is the criminal justice system….Law must provide simple answers: innocence or guilt, freedom or imprisonment, life or death.” (Baude, 21).
What is justice to you. Justice is known to dictionary.com as, “the quality of being just; righteoussness, equitableness, or moral rightness”. So how do you define justice. Is it fairness or correctness, maybe it’s throwing all the bad guys in jail. In To Kill a Mockingbird and The Merchant of Venice justice is defined several times in several different ways that open to our eyes if we look through one of the character’s. When looking through a character’s eyes we must take a look at someone’s background hence absorbing their perspective and understanding their
The criminal justice system views any crime as a crime committed against the state and places much emphasis on retribution and paying back to the community, through time, fines or community work. Historically punishment has been a very public affair, which was once a key aspect of the punishment process, through the use of the stocks, dunking chair, pillory, and hangman’s noose, although in today’s society punishment has become a lot more private (Newburn, 2007). However it has been argued that although the debt against the state has been paid, the victim of the crime has been left with no legal input to seek adequate retribution from the offender, leaving the victim perhaps feeling unsatisfied with the criminal justice process.
This quote happens to express the deepest problem in a judicial system: justice is perceived differently, so extreme justice for one person can be extreme injustice for another.
Why is justice important, then? Because although the legal system is not always right, it needs that lofty ideal of justice as something to strive for, something to hope gets accomplished, the hope for every victim of a crime of any nature. The seeking of justice is a tiring and long quest akin to the seeking of truth, for they are closely linked and without one there may not be the other. Without the understanding of what really happened in an event or place and time, justice is not being sought out and can’t be dealt with by those that need it. We all have felt wronged, at one time or another, in one form or another, and I feel that is why we all have a common interest in seeking justice.
What is Justice? We barely witness any justice these days people have forgotten the meaning of justice. They believe they have the power to do anything in this world without any consequences and feel proud of what they do. But justice stands for maintenance of what is just or right by the exercise of “authority or power” assignment of deserved reward or punishment; giving of due deserts. (Oxford English dictionary). Although the definitions are vast and complicated, what justice means to me is being punished for a crime that was committed. People should be reminded that they can’t just commit a crime and walk freely without worrying about the punishment they have to face.
Justice means doing benevolent actions for the betterment of humanity. Justice is defined as the “maintenance of legal, social, or moral principles by the exercise of authority or power; assignment of deserved reward or punishment” (Brown 1466). The presence of justice sustains the moral values present in society. The word justice originated in 1140 and it has not changed in spelling nor has it changed in meaning over time. Justice comes from the French word justise, meaning upright and equitable (Barnhart 409). Upright, also means a structural column which holds what is above it. This is similar to justice, that is like a pillar that supports civilization and it is necessary for the functioning of society. Likewise, equity is necessary in order to achieve fairness . The law, a common synonym for justice, maintains order and regulation (Urdang 250). This synonym echoes the other ideas linked with justice. All of these meanings are necessary to have an ideal society with the presence of justice.