Justice is widely known as being blind, but this can hinder justice’s ability to provide effective judgement. Eli Ashpence once said, “A blind justice is merely an impartial justice. True justice would have eyes in the back of her head and a pair of mismatched shoes.” (Ashpence 2015) Just like Eli, I believe that to serve true justice, the situation and past of the criminal should be taken into consideration, because often, situations are not as black and white as they seem. Consequently, there is a grey area present that may be an exception for normal justice. When the grey area is acknowledged the wrongdoer can obtain a punishment that will better them. Additionally, doing such can differentiate treatment between a person who broke the
…show more content…
Justice should use the malefactor’s background information to give a more unique and specialized punishment that will help him/her to reform more effectively. The same type of punishment doesn’t work for everyone. The criminal can receive punishment that will allow them to take place in society again. The novel “Touching Spirit Bear” by Ben Mikaelsen provides a form of unique and specialized punishment in the form of Circle Justice. Circle Justice takes into account how Cole Matthews feels other people have lost trust and faith in him. They also recognize how Cole had a history of violence and how his parents neglect and view him as a nuisance. The Circle decides to banish him on an isolated island so that Cole can think about everything he’s done and rediscover …show more content…
It clears up any confusions and prevents a snowball effect of taking revenge on one another. On a small scale, I had once noticed my friend using a pencil that I had lost that same day when writing a test. I assumed he had stolen it from me and without thinking I wanted to get back at him. Upon talking to him I realized that he took the pencil because he forgot his pencil and he wouldn’t have been able to complete the test otherwise. The situation could have deteriorated if I hadn’t recognized the reason behind why my friend took my pencil. Similarly, Peter in Touching Spirit Bear is intent on taking revenge on Cole because Peter presumes he was assaulted because, Cole, plain and simply wanted to take revenge because he was snitched on. Afterwards, Peter realized what happened to Cole in his past (i.e. getting beat up by his parents) and thereupon he understood the motives for his actions. At that moment of realization, Peter’s intention of revenge was stopped short and the downward spiral situation was avoided. After that, neither side would have confusions and a possible feud was prevented. Just like judging a book by its cover, judging someone from purely their impact on you can create misinformation and can even create a sense of
Justice should use the malefactor’s background information to give a more unique and specialized punishment that will help him/her to reform more effectively. The same type of punishment doesn’t work for everyone. The criminal can receive punishment that will allow them to take place in society again. The novel “Touching Spirit Bear” by Ben Mikaelsen provides a form of unique and specialized punishment in the form of Circle Justice. Circle Justice takes into account how Cole Matthews feels other people have lost trust and faith in him. They also recognize how Cole had a history of violence and how his parents neglect and view him as a nuisance. The Circle decides to banish him on an isolated island so that Cole can think about everything he’s done and rediscover …show more content…
It clears up any confusions and prevents a snowball effect of taking revenge on one another. On a small scale, I had once noticed my friend using a pencil that I had lost that same day when writing a test. I assumed he had stolen it from me and without thinking I wanted to get back at him. Upon talking to him I realized that he took the pencil because he forgot his pencil and he wouldn’t have been able to complete the test otherwise. The situation could have deteriorated if I hadn’t recognized the reason behind why my friend took my pencil. Similarly, Peter in Touching Spirit Bear is intent on taking revenge on Cole because Peter presumes he was assaulted because, Cole, plain and simply wanted to take revenge because he was snitched on. Afterwards, Peter realized what happened to Cole in his past (i.e. getting beat up by his parents) and thereupon he understood the motives for his actions. At that moment of realization, Peter’s intention of revenge was stopped short and the downward spiral situation was avoided. After that, neither side would have confusions and a possible feud was prevented. Just like judging a book by its cover, judging someone from purely their impact on you can create misinformation and can even create a sense of