Even when never convicted, those arrested often end up spending time in jail because they can't afford bail. And spending time in jail can cost you your job, your children, even your home. That's a lot of punishment for someone who hasn't been convicted of a crime. In August 2016, the U.S. Justice Department filed documents in federal court arguing that holding people in jail because they can't afford to bail themselves out is unconstitutional -- a major move toward real justice.
So the next time you find yourself thinking idly that there oughta be a law -- against not giving up your seat on a bus to someone who needs it more, or playing loud music in a public place, or panhandling -- stop for a moment and think again. Yes, such things can be unpleasant for other people, but maybe there's a just alternative to punishing those who do them.
I'll leave the last words to a student of mine, who wrote, "My definition of justice is some sort of restitution and admission of wrongdoing from someone who wronged you in the past... My family has influenced my definition of justice in teaching me that even if someone does something wrong there should always be room for forgiveness and, if they are sincere, forgive them and that is justice."
Now, it's your turn to define the term -- and so our world.
Rebecca Gordon, a TomDispatch regular, teaches in the philosophy department at the University of San Francisco. She is the author of American Nuremberg: The U.S. Officials Who Should Stand Trial for Post-9/11 War Crimes (Hot Books). Her previous books include Mainstreaming Torture: Ethical Approaches in the Post-9/11 United States and Letters from Nicaragua .
Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, Nick Turse's Next Time They'll Come to Count the Dead, and Tom Engelhardt's latest book, Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World.
Copyright 2016 Rebecca Gordon
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