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When I think of the word justice, the word balance also comes to mind

Psychology

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When I think of the word justice, the word balance also comes to mind. This may be due to the fact that I picture the Lady of Justice statue when hearing the word justice. The statue depicts a blindfolded woman holding a balance in one hand and double-edged sword in the other. Her blindfold represents the absence of prejudice and corruption, her balance represents the value in weighing and considering all evidence, and her double-edged sword represents the ability of justice to rule against either a defendant or plaintiff once evidence has been presented (Heather & Little 2020). In a perfect world, justice serves, protects, and punishes in all the right places. However, this world is very much so imperfect. The things that the Lady of Justice statue represents are what justice is supposed to be, but in today’s criminal justice system, the true meaning of the word justice has been blurred.

Social justice is something that worldwide, still needs a lot of work... The fact that we have yet to reach true social justice bubbles over and contributes to the flaws we have in our criminal justice system. Our criminal justice flaws in the U.S. start with our police force. Quota-based policing; demographic profiling; and racial profiling is where a lot of criminal injustice originates. Innocent people are profiled and arrested every day in unjust situations. Injustice then follows its victims through the court systems and into the vast American jail system. According to a press release from 2020, “The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,833 state prisons, 110 federal prisons, 1,772 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,134 local jails, 218 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories.” (Sawyer & Wagner 2020). Of the 2.3 million people incarcerated, it is estimated that between 1% and 5% are actually innocent; that gives us a low-end estimate of more than 20,000 people, and at the higher end, over 100,000 (Haavik 2021). People are being locked away for “crimes” that are hardly punishable, pleading guilty to crimes they didn’t commit to avoid the possibility of more harsh convictions if they lose a “not guilty” plea, are receiving unfair sentences, and are having their reputations ruined for life.

The prison system in the U.S. is indeed, in need of a serious reform. While there is a need for the incarceration of truly dangerous criminals and consequences for breaking the law, there is also a need for systems to be put in place to help lower the rate of recidivism. As reported by the World Population Review, “The United States has some of the highest recidivism rates in the world. According to the National Institute of Justice, almost 44% of criminals released return before the first year out of prison. In 2005, about 68% of 405,000 released prisoners were arrested for a new crime within three years, and 77% were arrested within five years.” (World Population Review 2021). Improving substance abuse treatments (alternative and/or integrated) and providing education during incarceration would be great places to start in the effort of reducing recidivism.