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Essays on the theory of justice by john rawls
Essays on the theory of justice by john rawls
Essays on the theory of justice by john rawls
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1) Philosopher John Rawls believed that ones own wealth or status should be unknown for the legal system to achieve full fairness and to be unbiased. For example in the case of one being appointed free legal representation, the judge would be unaware that it was free council. In this situation there is no ‘veil of ignorance’ because it operates on the complete knowledge that the offender could not pay the fine. I feel that the veil of ignorance would be unjust in this situation, as it is a very different situation to have someone struggling financially be unable to pay the fine over someone who potentially could, but chooses not to.
2) Aristotle believed poverty is the parent of revolution and crime, so I believe that he would have replied with; it is in the laws best interest to help people escape poverty instead of further trapping them within it (by making one pay an unrealistic fine or disabling them from working by sentencing them to either jail time or house arrest.) He also believed that if
These alternatives would better the society that the offenders are part of, and could better help prevent further occurrences of the
In today’s society, many people commit crimes and illegal behavior is nothing new. Society knows that there are criminals and they have criminal intentions. The question today is not if people are going to commit crimes, it is finding the most effective method to help those criminals reenter society as productive citizens, and preventing new people from becoming criminals. Department of corrections around the nation have implemented a program that identifies the most effective method. The “what works” movement outlines four general principles that are implemented in the rehabilitation of criminals; and, these principles are risk principle, criminogenic need principle, treatment principle, and fidelity principle.
In recent times, it has become very evident that wealth plays a major factor in the judicial system. There have been many cases that display the wealthy being given less of a punishment than the lower classes. In one particular case a teen, Ethan Couch, was driving under the influence after stealing beer from Walmart and he swerved off road, killing four pedestrians. The judge sentenced him to 10 years’ probation; this outraged many people because the usual punishment is a life sentence. Mr. Couch claims he suffers from “Affluenza”, which is a psychological problem that is caused by children being extremely privileged. Ethan Couch should not have received probation because of his family’s status, because he was driving under the influence,
Community supervision of law violators can achieve similar advantages and prevent the disadvantages of incarceration. There are both advantages and disadvantages to community corrections and incarceration. I support community corrections because I believe it has more positives outcomes and less negative effects than incarceration.
People with money think they have the ability to get away with their unlawful actions, to buy their freedom. In the show Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, in the episode “Wonderland”, Sarah Walsh was a victim of rape. She was unaware of who had raped her but eventually found out her rapist appeared to be one of her “friends” who was very wealthy. He had paid off his other victims to keep him away from the title of a criminal. Throughout the show, you can see the way people with money think about their position and the law. In the episode “Wonderland” of Law and Order: SVU, the creator portrays that criminals with money are punished not as severely as average income people. The issue of people who believe,
In recent years, there has been controversy over mass incarceration rates within the United States. In the past, the imprisonment of criminals was seen as the most efficient way to protect citizens. However, as time has gone on, crime rates have continued to increase exponentially. Because of this, many people have begun to propose alternatives that will effectively prevent criminals from merely repeating their illegal actions. Some contend that diversion programs, such as rehabilitation treatment for drug offenders, is a more practical solution than placing mentally unstable individuals into prison. By helping unsteady criminals regain their health, society would see an exceptional reduction in the amount of crimes committed. Although some
As an alternative to incarceration, intermediate sanctions are most often used for non-violent offenders. Intermediate sanctions is a new option of punishment that was develop to better match the punishment with the seriousness of the crime for non-violent offenders. With this new kind of punishment, comes new responsibility for the offender to become a contributing member of his or her community (textbook, 131). The main way that offenders accomplish this is by learning new job skills and holding a stable job (textbook, 131). Along with the responsibility of job, offenders are sometimes ordered to do additional sanctions which includes, paying any fines, getting an education or even getting treatment if needed (textbook, 131). Offenders are, at times, ordered to do all of these. Intermediate sanctions can be implemented in several ways. It can be implemented during arraignment or the initial sentencing, after the offender agrees to treatment and has shown improvement to comply, or it can be implemented as a means to reduce the population in the correctional system (textbook, 131). This brings up the question of whether intermediate sanctions should be used ...
Wealth is a huge problem when it comes to the justice system. People of a lower economic staus than those of the wealthy, do not have the resouces availiable to them in order to excersize their right of the full potential. Most times the wealthy can afford expensive representation that may have avenues that are not open to all. When wealth is aquired a form of power comes along with it and this may cause issues with the sense of equality.
I. Alternatives to incarceration give courts more options. For example, it’s ridiculous that the majority of the growth in our prison populations in this country is due to slamming people in jail just because they were caught using drugs. So much of the crime on the streets of our country is drug-related--crime that would largely disappear if the massive profits brought on by drug criminalization were eliminated. You can reduce drug usage more efficiently, and at a lower cost, through treatment than through law enforcement.
More are sentencing options are great because just like every person is different, so is the crime. Prison may not always be the most effective response for people, so If courts have options other than incarceration, “they can better tailor a cost-effective sentence that fits the offender and the crime, protects the public, and provides rehabilitation” (FAMM, 2011). Findings have also proven that alternative saves taxpayers money. “It costs over $28,000 to keep one person in federal prison for one year1 (some states’ prison costs are much higher). Alternatives to incarceration are cheaper, help prevent prison and jail overcrowding, and save taxpayers millions” (FAMM, 2011, para. 3). Lastly, alternatives protect the public by reducing crime. There is a 40% chance that all people leaving prison will go back within three years of their release (FAMM, 2011). “Alternatives to prison such as drug and mental health courts are proven to confront the underlying causes of crime (i.e., drug addiction and mental illness) and help prevent offenders from committing new crimes” (FAMM, 2011, para.
Aristotle begins his ethical account by saying that “every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and every choice, is thought to aim for some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim” (line 1094a1). Though some things might produce higher good than others, Aristotle looks for the highest good, which he says we must “desire for its own sake” and our actions are not decided on some other goal beyond this good itself (line 1094a20-25).[1] This highest good is then realized to be happiness (line 1095a16-20).
In many cases, the culprit has been in and out of rehabilitation centers and or jail. These facilities have a common goal. Which is to correct those whom are
It was this effort that identified the problem as failures of the judicial process. These failures included sluggish courts, increased levels of recidivism, and a significant loss of public trust (Ballenstedt, 2008). To solve the problem, the program takes a multifaceted approach to punishment in non-violent cases. Through the program, justices have more options available to them when sentencing such offenses as drug possession, prostitution, or even shoplifting. The concept combines social services with punishment in order to reduce reliance on expensive and ineffective short-term jail sentences for non-violent offenders and boost the community’s confidence in the system (Ballenstedt, 2008).
As the current prison structures and sentencing process continues to neglect the issues that current offenders have no change will accrue to prevent recidivism. The issue with the current structure of the prison sentencing process is it does not deal with the “why” the individual is an social deviant but only looks at the punishment process to remove the deviant from society. This method does not allow an offender to return back to society without continuing where they left off. As an offender is punished they are sentenced (removal from society) they continue in an isolated environment (prison) after their punishment time is completed and are released back to society they are now an outsider to the rapidly changing social environment. These individuals are returned to society without any coping skills, job training, or transitional training which will prevent them from continuing down th...
Prisons are not places where nonviolent offenders can serve time and then be released a better person, more fit for society. The prison environment is wrong, and as a result a nonviolent offender will leave unimproved. It is my belief that the alternatives of community control programs, rehabilitation programs, and restitution programs are the answers to the sentencing of nonviolent offenders.
Week 8 Essay PO4030 Theories of Distributive Justice Student: Michael Casey (12038008) Is the Difference Principle fair to the productive and talented members of society? In this paper I will argue that the Difference Principle is not fair to the productive and talented members of society. I will begin by providing a short overview of Rawls’ second principle of justice: the Difference Principle as outlined in A Theory of Justice (1971), followed by an argument, with the help of some opposing philosophical views to Rawls including Robert Noziak, Miller and Cohen, as to why I believe this principle is mostly unfair to the productive and talented members of society.