Justice In Manuel Velasquez's Justice And Fairness

The document "Justice and Fairness", co-written by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer, is a discussion over the subject of justice. In it are described three different types of justice: distributive justice, compensatory justice, and retributive justice. All three can be applied to life and recent events that have taken place, but for the events happening now in Flint, Michigan, the two that stand out as the most relative are retributive justice and compensatory justice. Today in Flint, Michigan, the citizens are suffering under a water crisis that began in April 2014. At that time, the officials in Flint decided to begin acquiring water for the city from the Flint River, instead of the Detroit water system – its previous source, in order to save money; this triggered the degradation of the water quality and began the crisis that has continued for nearly two years. At that time, the problems with the water were not immediately apparent, but today studies have …show more content…
“Justice and Fairness” sums justice up as a striving of humanity to give every person the dues owed to them simply for being human. Furthermore, the article separates justice into the types listed above. Retributive justice deals with punishing the people who commit crimes – the offenders. It ensures punishments are equal to the crime, while also ensuring that the penalty is harsh enough to sooth those who have been harmed. In the case of Flint, retributive justice would first start with finding the true culprits responsible for the water crisis (Is it the officials who made the decision to switch the water source in the first place, the people responsible for checking the water, or their superiors? Who is the culprit?) It would then deal with their punishment – whether it is removal from office or prison time; what punishment would match the harm suffered by the people of