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American justice system
The role of the justice system
The role of the justice system
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Humans are very perplexing creatures, they can be the nicest beings in the world but then change to abominations. The world is not perfect, far from it, it will kick you when it is down and leave you there to rot but the worse part of it all is the justice system that does not serve its purpose, serve justice. There are too many nefarious people that are still alive in this world and the rate of crime is still rising at an incredible rate. Twenty year old, Cosmo DiNardo, is being charged with the murder of Dean Finocchiaro, nineteen, Mark Sturgis, twenty-two, Tom Meo, twenty-one, and Jimi Taro Patrick, nineteen. After a ‘drug deal’ gone wrong, DiNardo claims all drug deals went wrong and felt cheated so he emptied his gun’s magazine on the
When one turns on the television today they are made witness to all the crimes that are present in society. It is impossible to sit through thirty-five minutes of news without anger and rage becoming aroused. This is because society is bothered by infinitesimal paraphernalia. Society also believes in human rights and punishment for those who violate such rights. Yet what constitutes humanity? Ever sit there and watch the news and wonder just how far humanity reaches? When is it time to say this is a human rights violation? Every wonder when someone’s morals and ethics begin to effect their ability to do their job? Ever wonder why in every news story the “bad guy” always become caught? Ever wonder how many people on death row might not be guilt? Some of them could have even been used as scapegoats. Yet how does one become a scapegoat? Could someone out there have that much hatred and anger to blame one person for the faults of many? Is the need for blame significant? Does desire lead to more hatred and evil? What does it feel like to be blamed for something that might not be wrong, and to be put on trial knowing that the jury wants to blame someone? In society and in the United States since its founding, there has been a need to place blame. Imagine how the person being blamed would feel. Henry Wirz did not have to image it; he lived through it and died for it. Someone is always to be blamed, even if they were just following orders. Orders which can only go so far until humanity takes effect. Henry Wirz was used as a scapegoat for war crimes committed during the Civil War at Andersonville Prison, however that does not justify his acts or make him an American hero.
Within the Federal Government there are three main branches; “the Legislative, the Judicial, and Executive” (Phaedra Trethan, 2013). They have the same basic shape and the same basic roles were written in the Constitution in 1787.
Some of their actions may not have been wrong, but they weren’t right either, and a person’s guilt isn’t assuaged just because everyone else is a worse asshole than they are. Our modern society is in a spilling point, where most everyone is doing wrong, and the only barometer to measure today is not who’s truly right, but who’s less wrong. This kind of social ...
For sure, there are criminals who have no conscience to guide them as they walk these streets. For sure, there are sick people in the world whom rather molest a child before one of age, which neither is justified. And for sure they are people who would act as God and take ones life away because they feel like it. It is the reality of society, however, we must not incarcerate people for the small things, instead we must help them as citizens.
The play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, shows human nature to be greedy, self-involved and vengeful. Claudius is driven by his greed to commit murder. Polonius is always looking out for himself, currying favor at the expense of anyone in his way. Hamlet thinks only of vengeance from the moment he finds out about Claudius murdering his father. Human nature has been all of these things, but it has also evolved through the ages. We can be base and cruel, but we can also show great compassion and kindness.
Is our justice system fair to all? Although the answer to this question is an opinion, there are pieces of evidence and commentary to defend this argument. The process of the legal system itself is all an opinion because in the end, the only person whose judgments matter is the judge himself. Over time, the wrong people have been arrested for the wrong things. Living in the United States, a country where crimes are committed constantly; we count on this system to make the right decisions. It is important that each case is treated equally when carrying out justice to keep the United States a safe place, to form a nation with good education, and to teach people from judging right from wrong. However, sometimes rights are taken from the wrong people. Our legal system is creating a dangerous path for African Americans in our country because of its’ highest per capita incarceration rate, its’ favoritism towards those in power, and its failure to carry out justice to protect people from the dangerous acts of those who are defined as criminals.
“Evil rarely comes in the form of monsters, but rather in the form of relatively normal people who, for reason of careers, ideology, or a desire for society’s approval, are indifferent to the human consequences of their actions.” As said in the quote people have a desire for society’s approval which makes sense because society does shape and influence people. It most definitely shaped Mayella Ewells in the book “To kill a mocking bird” for multiple reasons. Along with Mayella it always shaped and influenced non-fictional people like Victoria Price and Ruby Bates who are victims and accusers of the Scottsboro trials.
This is because the only way to make the world 100 percent crime-free is to force people to make the right decision. By doing this, the government places social order above human rights. They would no longer be ruling people but rather non-mechanical robots who only look forward to death. If society became “perfect” with no crime there would be very little need for government. So in a sense by doing this the government would not only slowly be killing its people off but also itself. Human rights should always be placed above order because without rights like freedom of choice, life loses
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.
Glaucon attempted to prove that injustice is preferable to justice. At first, Glacon agreed with Socrates that justice is a good thing, but implored on the nature of its goodness? He listed three types of “good”; that which is good for its own sake (such as playing games), that which is good is good in itself and has useful consequences (such as reading), and that which is painful but has good consequences (such as surgery). Socrates replied that justice "belongs in the fairest class, that which a man who is to be happy must love both for its own sake and for the results." (45d) Glaucon then reaffirmed Thrasymachus’s position that unjust people lead a better life than just people. He started that being just is simply a formality for maintaining a good reputation and for achieving one’s goals. He claimed that the only reason why a person would choose to be unjust rather than just due to the fear of punishment. This is supported by the story of the shepherd who became corrupted as a result of finding a ring which made him invisible. He took over the kingdom through murder and intrigue since he knew there could be no repercussions for his unjust actions. In addition, Adiamantus stated that unjust people did not need to fear divine punishment since appeals could be made to Gods’ egos via sacrifices. Finally, Glaucon gave an example of the extreme unjust person who has accumulated great wealth and power which he juxtaposed with an extreme moral man who is being punished unjustly for his crimes. Clearly, injustice is preferable to justice since it provides for a more fruitful life.
Personally, I believe that the author makes a good case. Depending on some social cues, people's behavior can be quite predictable from selfless to selfish. Most of our legal system leans more on the power of greed and selfishness to mold human behavior when in reality it might do better if the system focused more on conscience. The Jekyll/Hyde syndrome supports my argument, on page 209 of the book it states “there is no difference between the motives and attitudes of criminals, and the motives and attitudes of law-abiding citizens”. Human are expected to follow the rules and act civil even if our self interest tempts us otherwise and if they do not then there is an underlying issue that should be investigated further. Either way, human will
The United States of America is a primary example of the idea that even the greatest things have their own flaws. The United States is known to be one of the most powerful and influential countries in the world. Yet as a nation we still have many of our own flaws. We are not the number one country in education or health. We don’t even provide all our citizens with health care coverage unlike many European countries such as Denmark. The one thing that we’re better at than other countries is putting people in prison. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. As of the year 2013, we had 2.2 million people in prison. Why is that? Why are people committing so much crime in the United States rather than in any other country?
Of course I looked “justice” up in the dictionary before I started to write this paper and I didn’t find anything of interest except of course a common word in every definition, that being “fair”. This implies that justice would have something to do with being fair. I thought that if one of the things the law and legal system are about is maintaining and promoting justice and a sense of “fairness”, they might not be doing such a spiffy job. An eye for an eye is fair? No, that would be too easy, too black and white. I could cite several examples where I thought a judge’s or jury’s ruling was not fair, but I won’t because frankly, we’ve all seen those.
Everybody has their own opinion of what is just, but what does that really mean? The dictionary definition of justice is fairness. Something can be unfair to one person, but fair to a society. This is what exactly was thought at the time of the McCarthy trials. The same thing happened in the play The Crucible, where there was no true evidence to determine what was fair. In my life there were times where the outcome was not just. Does justice always prevail? This means, does fairness always happen?
...ing, it is safe to say that humans are not by nature evil but instead, they are good but easily influenced by the environment and society to act in evil way and do such evil things. You choose the road you want to take; either it’s the bad road or the good road. We are all born to live a life where we will be faced with good and evil things. We were not born to be an evil or bad person, but as you get older you make that choice. What do you want to be remembered as: the good or the bad person? Choose to be good over being bad because the rewards to your family, your friend, and yourself will always outweigh the bad.