Justice

SIGNIFICANCE: Generally considered the most fundamental purpose of government and civil society, justice encompasses criminal law and the criminal justice system, civil law and civil courts, and social justice.

In writing for the Federalist Papers in 1788, future president James Madison called justice “the end of government . . . the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit.” For Madison and the other founders, justice meant a society in which people were secure in their persons and property, in which all enjoyed the rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” and in which citizens were governed only with their consent. In the American political tradition, the Declaration of Independence is the single best articulation of the principles of justice that animated the nation’s founding. While other nations embraced other notions of justice, such as the rule of the wealthy or the promotion of a specific religion, these were not to be the foundation of American government and civil society. American justice falls into three categories: criminal, civil, and social.

Criminal Justice

Encompassing the laws, procedures, and institutions that communities employ to apprehend, prosecute, and punish those who violate the property or persons of others, criminal justice is primarily a state and local concern in the United States. The federal government plays a minor role because the most typical crimes—such as theft, burglary, robbery, assault, and murder—violate state, not federal, law. The agencies charged with bringing offenders “to justice” are usually local police departments and municipal or county prosecutors. The courts, though established under state law, are commonly organized and run at the county level. Criminals punished by incarceration normally serve terms of less than a year in county jails or more than a year in state prisons.

The federal government actively investigates and prosecutes violations of federal law, such as counterfeiting, interstate drug trafficking, immigration violations, assaults on federal officials, violations of federal regulations governing such activities as environmental pollution and commercial transactions, terrorism, and espionage.

Key justice issues in prosecuting criminal defendants include how suspects or their homes are searched, how evidence is seized, the nature of interrogations, the admissibility of confessions, the provision of legal assistance to the indigent, and the number and types of appeals—particularly from state to federal courts.

There are many similarities among the criminal laws of the fifty states—in all of which murder, rape, robbery, burglary, and certain other negative behaviors are illegal. Nevertheless, disputes occasionally arise over whether governments even should prohibit certain behaviors. This is especially true of so-called victimless crimes , such as the personal use of illicit drugs, unauthorized gambling, and prostitution. Opponents of laws against such activities often argue that consenting adults should have the right to engage in any activities that do not directly harm others and that it is “unjust” for a state to limit personal choices in such ways. Defenders of such laws emphasize the function of the law and of government as a moral teacher. Upholders of the latter position maintain, for example, that a government’s legalization of drug use would send a signal to the people that the community approves such behavior; the inevitable result would be an increase in harmful behavior and grave social costs.

Civil Justice

Generally less controversial than criminal justice, civil justice covers a wide range of legal matters governing the relations among individuals in civil society. These include contracts between private parties, marriage and divorce, parents’ responsibility for their children’s welfare, harms done without criminal intent, licensing of commercial or professional activities, and health and safety regulations. Civil courts provide forums for aggrieved parties to assert and vindicate their rights.

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the civil justice system is the dramatic late twentieth century increase in awards to plaintiffs for harms done by government agencies or corporations. Proponents of tort reform have called for limits to punitive damages (those awarded to punish transgressors) and ceilings on attorney contingency fees.

Social Justice

In contrast to criminal and civil justice, social justice is a twentieth century concept. Embracing the idea that the government has an obligation to promote economic and social well-being, it is strongly associated with the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt , who broadly expanded the notion of rights contained in the Declaration of Independence. “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” were reinterpreted to encompass the “right” to be protected from hunger, unemployment, or the disabilities of sickness and old age. It thus became the task of government to correct inequities in the social and economic systems, to redistribute income and wealth from those who had more to those who had less.

Another component of the movement for social justice was the Civil Rights movement, which peaked in the 1960s. Under such leaders as Martin Luther King, Jr., this movement sought to extend the promises of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to Americans of all races. It led to a national commitment in the landmark Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965 to prohibit state and local discrimination in public facilities and employment and to enforce vigorously the right to vote. King summed up the aim of the movement in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech: “Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.”

Bibliography

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Lawrence, Paul, and Barry Godfrey. Crime and Justice since 1750. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2015. Print.

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