Justice: the quality of being just or fair

Just/Fair: free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception

I'm obtaining an interesting perspective on justice these days. Not only because I'm spending the majority of my time working in a law office, but many parts of my life seem to be dealing with the issue of justice, right, and fairness. And yesterday in a totally unrelated conversation, somebody posed the question to me:

What would it take for justice to be done?

And this got me thinking.

If there is a situation in which the need for justice is present, then that means on some level wrong or harm has been done. Someone or something has been subject to injustice. Someone has been hurt, harmed, wronged, treated unfairly. There has been some injury.

So obviously when you are harmed or see harm being done, you seek out justice. You want the situation made right. You want consequences for the injustice so that things seem fair again.

Its widely accepted that when harm is done or a unfair action has taken, then enacting or issuing a consequence or responding action would bring justice. Make life fair again. Even the odds. Level the playing field. This is why people go to court. This is why we have a justice system. Because when harm is done, something must be done to make it right.

And I do think our justice system is important. I think that there should be consequences and punishments for actions take that harm. But can we really call this justice? Can we really call this fairness? Because are we really capable of taking damage done and making the situation fair again?

For instance, if a murder occurs and a life is lost- can charging the perpetrator and sending him to jail for the rest of his life really make this situation fair again? Yes this system punishes and forces them to face the consequences of their actions, but can a life spent in jail really make right a life lost? Is this really justice?

I don't think so. I think we can force people to face consequences and inflict proper punishment, but I don't think we are capable of serving justice. Because we can't make the situations right or fair. We can make a tragedy like a murder or assualt or abuse be like it never happened by any sort of sentence the courts can hand out.

In law suits, you will hear people on the injured side say that they can't wait for justice to be served so that they can find closure. However, at the end of the trial they often are puzzled by the lack of closure. The lack of relief. They find that seeing the person suffer the consequences and punishment doesn't make life seem fair or just again. That it doesn't make the situation right.

I think we have skewed expectations of justice. I think we look for fairness in the wrong places. I think we might expect too much. Why?

Because we're human. And as humans, we are flawed and full of biases and self-interest. Its impossible for us to come to a situation without bringing our own backgrounds, beliefs, thoughts, hurts, experiences, and interests to the table. We can't issue true justice- devoid of bias. Actual justice might be impossible to find as long as you are dealing with the human race.

Justice- true justice- comes from God and comes with God. Its been my experience that only God can make a situation right. Only God can redeem something entirely. Isn't that what justice is after all? Redemption? Making a situation or a person whole and new again? Setting something right? To erase a mistake? A transgression? An injury? And in my experience, only God has the power to make something be as if nothing again.

So maybe we need to alter our perspective on justice. Don't stop fighting for it or seeking it, but be careful from where you are seeking it from. Yes if a wrong is done- consequences and punishment are fair and often necessary. But don't expect justice to come from a court, a person, or a law suit.

Expect justice from God alone. And expect it to look alot like redemption.