What is Justice Exactly?

What is Justice?  That is, what is the aim of justice?  What needs and whose needs are being addressed by its application?

Is justice simply retribution, “getting what you deserve,” “payback time!”?  If it is, shall we also assume that Retributive Justice includes the element of deterrence, “Let that be a warning to you and to others; next time you’ll think twice before doing that again!”?  But is this sufficient?  Does this fully satisfy what the victim needs when he/she demands justice, not to mention the needs of the community, or even the offender?  In short, doesn’t the very concept of Justice run far deeper and extend much further than the simple idea of retribution: “You hurt me, now we’re going to hurt you, but even more so!”?

Yes, this is a topic that academicians, doctors of jurisprudence, sociologists, ethicists, and theologians discuss, write, and debate about daily.  But the question is not merely an academic one.  Nor is it one that only academics and professionals should be privileged to discuss.  We, common citizens and members of our communities, are huge stakeholders in the practical workings of justice in our society.  We pay dearly for the lack of it; indeed, systemic injustice can be quite subversive and oppressive and can wreak havoc in a society.  And yet we pay quite handsomely for its implementation; the halls of justice may not be paved with gold but they are most certainly built with pillars of marble, which is not cheap.  Thus, the average citizen should have much to understand and say about how justice should work in our communities.

We humans demand, nay, we need, justice.  But what constitutes that need?  It’s not just a matter of retribution.  Retributive action does not fully satisfy one’s longing for justice, though it certainly helps.  Most victims want something more from the justice process.  Yet many come away from the process feeling unsatisfied, sometimes even re-victimized in our present system, as it is.

Going back to my initial question, what is justice, what if the basis of justice is first and foremost a relational issue and only secondarily an abstract, legal question?  That is to say, what if justice primarily has to do with human relationships and is only latently related to the breaking of a law; the “Law” itself being a servant to the maintenance and cultivation of positive, healthy, and just relational dynamics between persons or groups of persons within a community?  That is, what if the core of justice has to do with human relational dynamics?  And what if our present judicial system tends to dehumanize people, victims and offenders, rather than respecting their humanity, by only addressing abstract, impersonal, legal issues, the law, while failing to address the fundamental relational question which the law is supposed to serve?  If that’s the case, is it possible that the trajectory of our present judicial system is moving away from, rather than toward actual justice, in principle?

For example, what are some of the needs that victims have, after they have suffered a crime against their person and/or property?  For one, victims would welcome information from the offender, “Why me?  Why was I targeted?  Did I do or say anything to make this happen, if so what was it?  What was my offender thinking about, at the time?”  Victims want to know: who, how, where, when and most especially, WHY?  Likewise, victims want to be heard.  They need to tell what happened, not once but perhaps many times over.  They need listening ears.  Victims would especially like the offender to “get it,” that is, to really know how the offender’s actions negatively affected them, the hurt, the cost, the pain, and the unrecoverable losses they’ve had to endure because of the offender’s crime.  Furthermore, victims need re-empowerment.  Being victimized often results in a loss of confidence that one is really safe.  Fear and anxiety may now rule where confidence and self-assurance used to reign.  Victims need to recover a sense of control over their lives. They need empowerment.  And finally, though this is not at all an exhaustive list, victims need vindication and restitution.  They need assurance that the offender has taken or will take responsibility for his/her action and the harm they have caused the victim.  Considering Victims’ needs alone, we must admit that simple Retributive Justice within our present judicial process does little to meet them.

There is no panacea for perfect justice in this world.  But we can always make our present system better and keep it moving in the right direction.  I believe the Restorative Justice approach can help us do exactly that.  For example, Restorative Justice begins by seeing crime as primarily a violation against very real people and interpersonal relationships and secondarily as a crime against the impersonal & very abstract State.  Secondly, because a crime is a violation against persons it creates an obligation, on the part of the offender, toward the offended person(s).  Thirdly, at its core, the offender’s obligation is to, as much as possible, “make things right” for the victim (beyond mere retribution).  Thus, under Restorative Justice, the process of seeking and getting just satisfaction never loses sight of the personal relational dynamic that is at the heart of justice.  Contrast that to the State’s response to crime, which practically sets aside the needs of the victim (produced by the crime) and simply focuses on the administering of punishment to the guilty, acting as if the crime was against the State and only the State, often leaving the victim utterly dissatisfied with the process and its end result.

I would like to say more about Restorative Justice in the future.  For now, I will give an unsolicited plug for a little booklet on the subject.  To get a good sense of what Restorative Justice is, I strongly encourage the reading of The Little Book of Restorative Justice by Howard Zehr (Good Books, 2002).  It’s small, well written, and easy to read.  It serves as an excellent introduction to the subject.  It’s only about $5.00 and can be easily ordered online.  I would also note that Restorative Justice Principles Practices and Values are applicable in many contexts other than the judicial one, schools and businesses for example.  And so I believe that it is well worth your time and effort, Dear Reader, in becoming acquainted with the content and substance of the Restorative Justice Process and direction.