Justification Essay

The judicial system of very many countries, America included, has often faced accusations of exercising widespread discrimination in regards compulsory sentences. Serious disparities have been witnessed in sentencing with several groups somehow receiving favor from the legislation while others are treated harshly by the same judicial system. This current state of the judicial system is very sad and discouraging as it acts as a divisor of the nation into classes based of gender and majorly race basis. The victims of harsh treatment of the law are minority ethnic groups that include the Latinos, women and African Americans. These groups have suffered so much that their suffering has agitated the equality campaigns by the human right activists not only in America but also in other forgotten corners of the world.
This massive inequality, when it comes to laws application, is retrogressive towards the endeavor of achieving a unified America. The inequality derails the process of making America a free country to each and every person irrespective of one’s origin, color gender and any other discriminatory aspects.
The judiciary seems to apply the law in an unfair manner hence making some American citizens to feel inferior to others who get fair treatment from the same system of legislation. This phenomenon does not auger well with matters of national cohesion. This is because disadvantaged groups definitely will feel that they are being sidelines in regards to various aspects of life. Consequently, they may resolve to get their problems solved by other dubious means available including violence, and this could affect the stability of the country.
These disparities in the application of the law affect both the guilty and the innocent lot who are unfairly sentenced for criminal activities they were not involved in.
This is disadvantageous to the war against crime. If the society continues punishing some so severely and in addition discriminates some, the rates of crime will increase tremendously as the people who are indirectly or directly affected by the discrimination of the judicial system will opt to use other unlawful means to find satisfaction or to revenge for the wrong-doing exerted on their innocent being.
In addressing the disparity in the sentencing process of our judiciary, the causes of such treatment should be carefully addressed. The police department that is a given the duty to arrest the offenders of the law is reported to have rampant cases of discrimination. Many American citizens have reported to having been searched or apprehended for crimes that they have not committed only because they are of a given gender, have a different a different colour of the skin or because they speak a different language from the one comprehended by the officer arresting him or her. The police have a duty to apprehend and align suspected criminals to court, and if they exercise their duty with bias (racial or gender), the suspect in the long run may have feelings that there are not bound to receive fair treatment in the courts of law. For instance in “Trifles”, the Sheriff accompanied by the witness Lewis Hale tries to implicate Mrs. Wright in the crime of murdering the husband; however, there is no substantive evidence on the table to support her guilt. The unfair treatment can in addition be extended up to the level of sentencing, hence making the victim concerned lose confidence in the system of the judiciary.
The human rights activists have reported increased arrests of the minority groups. A perception has, therefore, been created among the minorities that it is a given gender that is likely to commit a crime or that it is a given person with a specific type of skin colour that can commit a crime. Such as a perception has extended even to the judicial system where the perception tends to influence the decision of the judges when giving a ruling on cases that involve involving a party from minority groups. Instead of the judges looking keenly at solid facts of the case, their perception will be based on the prevailing stereotype that crime is prevalent among a given minority group. This results into unfair ruling to the minority group members.
Initiatives can still be put in place to curb the menace of social injustices and violence towards the minority groups. Because the difficulties that women face are challenging and multiple, the national mechanisms that ensure that women can seek protection and remedies against violence and discrimination should be reviewed. The legislation against all forms of racism, involving gender specific manifestation should be established. Various government policies should be designed to provide “safety net” for the disadvantaged and the poor women. The government should develop special training programs to do away with the sexiest stereotypes, racist and prejudices among officials and staff who are usually in contact with marginalized women such as health professionals, policemen, judges and law enforcement officials. With effective implementation of these remedies, discriminatory treatment channeled towards the minority groups can be controlled.
Justice and fairness in the judicial system is, therefore, a central part of the ethics on should be given the attention that it deserves. In assessing the moral decision, we must ask ourselves whether out actions treat everyone equally. If this is false then we should establish whether the difference in treatment is vindicated: are the basis we are using relevant to the situation at hand? However when making ethical decisions justice is not the only thing to consider. At times, justice has to be overridden in favor of moral claims for instance society’s welfare and rights. However, justice and equality is a display of our recognition of each other’s’ basic dignity irrespective of social or physical orientation, and an assertion to the notion that if we are meant to live together in an interdependent society we must treat each other as equivalents.