Chapter 3

Question 1

The need for justice

Answer 1

The author states that justice is required because it is not the nature of human beings to be generous, openhearted or fair

And that if we behaved all the time with these virtues we would not need justice

Question 2

Fairness:

Answer 2

the condition of being impartial.
It is related to equal treatment. It is the allocation of equal
shares and equal opportunities

Question 3

Equality:

Answer 3

refers to equal treatment for similar people and acts.

Question 4

Impartiality:

Answer 4

it is the core of our system of criminal justice
-it is not favoring one party or interest more than another

Question 5

Origins of the Concept of Justice

Answer 5

The concept of justice originates in the Greek word dike, which refers to everything staying in its proper place.

Question 6

Plato

Answer 6

believed justice was achieved by maintaining the social status quo. He classed it as one of the four civic virtues (along with wisdom, temperance, and courage).

Question 7

Aristotle

Answer 7

believed justice was the basis of law, defining
it as the unwritten customs of a people that distinguish between what is and is not honorable.

Question 8

Aristotle, Cont.

Answer 8

He believed that each individual is suited to a certain role

And that those with the highest intellect should be given schooling, those that are musical should be trained as musicians for society,

An those without qualities should serve as slaves

Question 9

Distributive Justice (1 of 4)

Answer 9

Distributive justice concerns what measurements should be used to allocate society’s resources

e.g. issue such as affirmative action, welfare, free schooling,

Economic goods (income or property)

Opportunities for development (education or
citizenship)

Recognition (honor or status)

Question 10

Since some possessions are scarce, justice requires what?

Answer 10

Since some possessions are scarce, justice requires that goods be distributed using standards of entitlement such as need and desert.

Question 11

Distributive Justice (2 of 4) (Egalitarian theories)

Answer 11

start with the basic premise of
equality or equal shares for all

Question 12

Marxist theories

Answer 12

place need above desert or
entitlement

Question 13

Libertarian theories

Answer 13

promote freedom from state
interference

Question 14

Utilitarian theories

Answer 14

attempt to maximize benefits for
society

Question 15

What is the concept of the Veil of Ignorance

Answer 15

That an ideal system of justice and distribution would be designed as if the people did not know which status in society they had.

This would insure that the system was fair to everyone.

• E.g. the original American rights were designed by land-owning whites so it gave only these people rights and power = under the veil the original lawmakers would have to act as if they did not know what position they
  had in

Question 16

Rawls Veil of Ignorance, Cont.

Answer 16

Under Rawl’s theory of justice, retributive punishment is limited in such a way as to benefit the least advantaged.

The just benefit for any offense must be considered as if one does not know whether one is the offender, the victim, or a disinterested bystander.

Question 17

Pay

Answer 17

The author states that most people believe that police are underpaid.

Question 18

Corrective Justice (1 of 4) ( Substantive justice)

Answer 18

refers to issues of inherent fairness in what we do to people in the name of justice

Question 19

Retributive justice

Answer 19

is based on balance

Justice demands that the criminal must suffer pain or loss proportional to what the victim was forced to suffer.

E.g. an eye for an eye

A life for a life can make simple sense

Question 20

The status of the victim

Answer 20

Historically, the status of the victim was important in determining the level of harm and therefore punishment

Question 21

Mercy

Answer 21

Concept of mercy: when even if the offender is guilty they are not punished for various reasons such as need and context of the crime.

Question 22

The Law of Sanctuary

Answer 22

allows a person respite from
punishment within the confines of church grounds.

Question 23

Utilitarian justice:

Answer 23

Utilitarian justice: only supports punishment if it
benefits society

Beccaria and Bentham

Punishment should be based on the seriousness of the crime.

And How well it prevents crime in the future

Question 24

The Hedonistic Calculus

Answer 24

Bentham said we must calculate the potential rewards of a crime so that the amount of threatened pain could be set to deter people from committing the crime.

And that it would be immoral to punish or hurt people more than needed to deter future crime.

Question 25

Procedural justice

Answer 25

steps taken to reach determination of guilt or punishment

Goal is two fold

Question 26

Procedural Protections

Answer 26

Notice of charges
Neutral hearing body
Right of cross-examination
Right to present evidence
Representation by counsel
Statement of findings
Appeal

Question 27

Procedural justice research

Answer 27

Illustrates importance of procedural justice as it affects legitimacy of entire justice system

It has been found that even if people are not happy with the outcome of a trial, they perceived the procedure as fair.

It has been found that when citizens believe that police procedures are fair that they will comply with the law
and work with police to solve crimes
(New Orleans projects story)

Question 28

Fairness and Organizations

Answer 28

Research shows that individuals in justice
organizations who feel that they are not treated fairly are
* less satisfied
* More likely to quit
* And more likely to treat others badly or engage in corrupt behaviors

Question 29

Wrongful Convictions (1 of 2)

Answer 29

One reason people distrust justice system

Wrongful convictions continue to plague our system

Question 30

Innocence Project:

Answer 30

an organization staffed by lawyers
and students who reexamine cases and provide legal assistance if there were legal errors

Question 31

Reasons for false convictions

Answer 31

Defense lawyers’ incompetence

Suppression of exculpatory evidence (what is this?)

False/mistaken eyewitness identification

Invalid forensic science

Informant/jailhouse informant perjured testimony

Government misconduct

Bad lawyering

Question 32

Confirmatory Bias

Answer 32

It is when investigators focus on the original suspect and ignore contradictory evidence

This led to legislation in Texas requiring prosecutors to open their files to defense attorneys
* E.g. The Brady Rule

Question 33

Race, Ethnicity, and Justice

Answer 33

Perceptions of blacks and whites differ regarding the criminal justice system.

Race permeates the criminal justice system.

Disproportional representation of blacks in certain crime categories

Blacks are seven times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder than whites.

Question 34

Race, Ethnicity, and Justice 2

Answer 34

And cases where the wrongfully convicted were black, there is a greater likelihood of official misconduct by police

Blacks are less likely to receive bail;

And receive harsher plea deals and harsher sentences after convicted to equally situated whites

This leads to:
– Racial profiling
– Saturation patrols in black neighborhoods
– Blacks are more likely to be shot and killed while unarmed than whites

Question 35

Race, Ethnicity, and Justice 3

Answer 35

Blacks are more likely to be arrested in traffic stops for resisting

And force is more likely to be used

Although blacks are less likely than whites to possess drugs such as marijuana, they are more likely to be arrested for things such as small amounts of marijuana than whites

Question 36

Restorative Justice

Answer 36

Emphasizes compensation over retribution

Returns focus to rights and needs of the victim

Requires restoration of victims, offenders, and
communities injured by crime

Integrates victims, offenders, and communities more into the justice process

Question 37

immoral Laws and the Moral
Person (1 of 2)

Answer 37

Immoral laws deprive certain groups of liberty or treat some groups differently, giving them either more or fewer rights and privileges than other groups.

Unjust laws have the following characteristics: They are degrading to humans.
They are discriminatory against certain groups.
They are enacted by unrepresentative authorities.
They are unjustly applied.

Question 38

Immoral Laws and the Moral
Person (2 of 2)

(what is Civil disobedience?)

Answer 38

voluntary disobedience of
established laws

The problem is the widespread belief that law is
synonymous with morality