Justice comes from a Latin word 'jus' meaning right or law (Thompson 38). According to the dictionary, justice refers to the state or characteristic of being fair. Justice is one of the most important political and moral concepts. There are four types of justice namely; Distributive justice also known as economic justice, it entails fairness in what people receive. Commutative justice which is based on the principle of equality, Social justice whereby everyone has a right to fair say in society and Legal justice whereby the obligations of government to its citizen. Many people feel that the justice system in America doesn't live up to fairness, equality, and justice. They feel that there is bias in the justice system. There have been inequalities experienced by the blacks and undeserving. The discussion will focus on how we can achieve justice for all, regardless of one's status in society.
The American Government has been involved in providing justice to all by forming agencies to advocate for justice (King 45). For instance, Federal agencies came together; under the leadership of White House Domestic Policy Council and the US Department of Justice (DOJ),) to launch LAIR (Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable. LAIR was supported by the office of Access to Justice (ATJ). Access to Justice helps in lifting families out of poverty and mai ntain them securely in the middle class. President Barack Obama established the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable (LAIR), on 24th September 2015.It brings together 21 federal agencies to work on expanding access to legal services for the people who are vulnerable. The agencies have worked too; a) Raise aware1ness of the impact in promoting access to health, housing, employment, education. b) Strengthen federal programs by using resources. c)Improve access to justice by development policy recommendations .d) Consideration for low-income earners e) To get involved in partnerships to achieve objectives f) Advance data collection, analysis, and evidence-based data. The activities of LAIR are supported by two working groups namely; working group on Access to Justice Indicators and Data collection. Working group of self-represented parties in Administrative Hearing.
They released the first annual report showing how WH-LAIR partners have worked to inspire innovative programs and interagency collaborations. More agencies can be formed to continue championing for justice to all.
Being entitled to Basic income
Martin Luther King once said, "The contemporary tendency in our society is to base our distribution on scarcity, which has vanished, and to compress our abundance into the overfed mouths of the middle and upper classes until they gag with superfluity. If democracy is to have the breadth of meaning, it is necessary to adjust this inequity. It is not only moral, but it is also intelligent. We are wasting and degrading human life by clinging to archaic thinking. The curse of poverty has no justification in our age' is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty." A world of abundance can be full of justice. A basic income can change our mindset to that of abundance (Fraser 54). Every American will have the freedom of doing whatever they want without having the fear of lacking money, hence justice for all. No one will be discriminated against due to their economic status in society
Creating diversity among the nation's judiciary
Diversity should be created in jurisdictions where judges are elected.Since 2000, the reelection of white judge's was 90% compared to that of the African-Americans (80%) and Latinos (67%). Most blacks who were elected were voted off in subsequent elections. When the judicial system is white-dominated, there can be bias and have negative feelings towards someone from a different race. People from different races should be incorporated into the system to provide inclusivity to all.
Assessing the Racial Impact of current criminal Justice in decision making
The Justice Integrity Act of 2014; requires the Attorney General to establish a pilot program in 10 US districts so as to promote fairness in the federal criminal justice system, designate a US attorney in each of the 10 districts who in turn are expected to implement a pilot program to appoint an advisory group. The advisory group consists of judges who are supposed to collect and analyze data on race and ethnicity of defendants at each stage of a criminal proceeding, to submit to US AG a report and proposed plan for addressing disparities. The Conference of Chief Justice (CCJ) examined the judicial system holistically and develop recommendations for civil service reform to meet the needs of the 21st century (Collins 85).It was charged with "developing guidelines and best practices for civil litigation based upon evidence derived from state pilot projects and from other applicable research, and informed by implemented rule changes and stakeholder input; and making recommendations as necessary in the area of cash flow management for the purpose of improving the civil justice system in the courts"
Placing the citizens at the center of the justice systems
Citizens must be heard and respected, above all get a fair sentence Lack of attempts to receive justice in courts has made many to seek solutions outside the courts decreasing public confidence in a court of law. Bribes should be avoided to provide justice to all regardless of their status.
There has been racial bias against minority inmates. This comes in form of punishment for minor rule breaking. Blacks are usually disciplined at higher rates than whites. Cases of prison guards charging an inmate with breaking a rule and not producing physical evidence are common. Gunnar Myrdal developed a theory called "cumulative Caucasian". He stated that the harmful effects of white prejudice are actually contributing causes of White prejudice .that low standards of living, poor health and insufficient education among African-Americans populations bring to credibility the Black-inferiority concept leading a self-reinforcing cycle (Barak et al., 34). There has been a disproportionate number of African Americans arrested and locked up in the USA
Conclusively, justice for all can be achieved through the above-mentioned ways. However, more needs to be done to fully achieve justice. The philosophy of justice is defined as fairness to all and the ability to form a sound culture as defined by the works of Plato in his book the republic. Accordingly, fair justice should have equal results to all.
Works Cited
Barak, Gregg, Paul Leighton, and Jeanne Flavin. Class, race, gender, and crime: The social realities of justice in America. Rowman " Littlefield Publishers, 2010.
Collins, Patricia Hill. Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Routledge, 2002.
Fraser, Nancy, and Axel Honneth. Redistribution or recognition?: a political-philosophical exchange. Verso, 2003.
King, Deborah K. "Multiple jeopardies, multiple consciousnesses: The context of a Black feminist ideology." Race, Gender and Class. Routledge, 2016. 36-57.
Thompson, Janna. Justice and world order: A philosophical inquiry. Routledge, 2013.
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