Hall Of Justice Analysis

By this time Detroit had become the epicenter of the American automobile. Detroit’s grand boulevards, were now lost in this ever expanding industrial Mecca. Detroit was home to some of America’s biggest names in automotives, including Walter Chrysler, The Dodge Brothers, and the outspoken Henry Ford. Workers in these factories often earned more in wages than many unskilled labor positions around the country. As news of the high-wage jobs in the up-and-coming motor city made its way around the country, migrants began to flood the city in hopes of a better life. Overcrowding among blacks and the have-nots of society was a harsh reality in Detroit’s inner city ghetto, which went by the name of Black Bottom. Several families would cram into single family flats, often grateful to even have a place to stay. Many made due without luxuries like running water, and disease ran rampant along the dirty over-crowded streets. This migration was not often welcomed among white Detroiters. A message of “One Hundred Percent Americanism” was being spread and upheld by the Ku Klux Klan, and Negroes were not Americans. Many white Detroiters, whether they were with the KKK or not, felt that segregation was the way it should be. They feared that if blacks were to breach the color line into white neighborhoods then property values would plummet, real estate agents would not show the houses and the neighborhood would be ultimately

“...And justice for all” is the last line of the Pledge of Allegiance for the United States of America. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the official definition for the term “justice” would be: the process or result of using laws to fairly judge and punish crimes and criminals. Creon has a very unique understanding of government, an unsuccessful search for justice, and learns about putting his pride before people he loves.

During the time Reginald Rose wrote the play Twelve Angry Men America was not an equal place for all people. A democracy is founded on the ideology that all Americans should be given a fair trial in court before being declared guilty. The twelve jurors in the play come from various backgrounds but initially, all but one vote in favor of the boy’s unforgivable sentence; while two other jurors lift two strong social stigmas and overcome their bias. One juror decided to stand up and take the time out for proper reasoning that resulted in teaching the others two jurors a lesson. Final verdicts should be made on justifiable grounds or the foundation of America’s society could be left at risk for collapse. Justifiable final verdicts are skewed

In the play The Crucible, the author Arthur Miller displays an unfair treatment of humans when it comes to justice. Characters who live in Salem, Massachusetts, receive improper punishments for their sins of witchcraft and are being accused of crimes they did not commit. The justice system in the play is based on the maxim “guilty until proven innocent” which portrays unjust human rights due to executions of individuals without evidence. The accused characters attempt to defend themselves in court but it is ineffective because the only way to survive is to confess to witchcraft. Miller presents a cruel approach in justice systems and proves them to be unjust through the characters Giles Corey, Tituba, and Rebecca Nurse, who all suffered

Arc of Justice is a story of the hardships of segregation fueled by ignorance in the 1920’s. The beginning introduces the reader into the setting of Detroit reaching its industrial peak. It then chronicles Ossian Sweet, an African American physician. Him and his wife, Gladys, purchased a house in a white neighborhood in hopes of a better future and a successful family. Instead, they quickly received many threats and felt unsteady, the neighbors rejected all African American’s in their society. Raised in the South, Ossian Sweet had seen what prejudice can do to a society. Although he attempted to escape from it, he finds himself staring racism right in the face. For a book published 80 years after the fact, Kevin Boyle does a very impressive

Justice is the most important theme throughout this play. It proves that truth can’t be found without a struggle. In the play there was only one juror wanting to hear all the evidence in the court case. But when more facts were found out then some of the other jurors wanted to hear the rest of it, which would determine whether the defendant was guilty or not guilty. No one really knew if the boy was guilty but or not but they figured out that he was not given a fair trial. The defence barrister didn’t care because he wasn’t getting paid enough money to care. So that’s what the jurors thought it was up to them then, to repay the boy with justice.

The complexity of justice is evident in Reginald Rose’s ‘Twelve Angry Men’, through the employment of Truth throughout the American 1950’s judicial system. Throughout the text, the concept of justice is forged by the racal prejudices, personal bias, emotion, logistics, and reasoning of the Jurors, thus allowing truth to hinder or prevail. Justice is shaped by truth in ‘Twelve Angry Men’, as the Jurors begin to understand the reasonable doubt in the evidence against the defendant, as the truth becomes prevalent through the Juror’s deductive capabilities, thus allowing for injustice to be hindered by the truth, which ultimately leads justice to prevail in the judicial system.

Throughout ‘Twelve Angry Men’ and ‘On the Waterfront’ both Protagonists show how they serve justice to prove their opinions and win over what they believe is right. Both protagonists show that they want to do what is right and stick with what they believe, which is testifying against Johnny friendly in ‘On the Waterfront’ and Juror 8 voting against everyone and voting not guilty in ‘Twelve Angry Men’. Juror 8 voting not guilty is a testament to his courage of conscience ‘It’s not easy for me to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it first’ along the entire storyline of the text Juror 8 does not back down and sticks up for his opinion until every other juror agrees. Similarly, Terry who is the protagonist in ‘On the Waterfront’ is given the confidence to stand up against antagonists Johnny Friendly, after being convinced that testifying and telling the truth is more important than just seeking physical revenge. After testifying he displays courage by facing the workers and Friendly at the Waterfront to reveal that he isn’t ashamed and that you can come back. By the end of both texts we are shown how each protagonist fights for their justice by standing up for their rights and doing what they want done for themselves.

Reginald Rose’s text, Twelve Angry Men, follows the jury deliberation of a small murder case, with a cast of twelve jury men discussing the evidence presented in court to decide whether the defendant is innocent or guilty. Over the course of the play, led primarily by moral compass jury number 8, the verdict is changed from eleven to one to acquittal, as the men are persuaded and subject to constant distractions, prejudice, bullying, and discussions of unreliable witness testimonies and lawyers, thus exploring issues about the validity of the justice system in magnitude.

In the courtroom, justice and mercy tend to cause a conflict regarding the defendant’s sentencing. On one side, pity tends to fall as the motive for one’s argument. In the other hand, many seek fairness to play the decision of the defendant’s future. With the conclusion of the play 12 Angry Men, justice takes a great importance in deciding the fate of the defendant.

In Louis Erdrich novel The Round House, Geraldine Coutts was attacked and raped on a small reservation in North Dakota, her husband Bazil Coutts endeavors to bring justice to the case. Thirteen-year-old Joe Coutts is furious that there is little his father can do, so he and his best friends Cappy, Zack, and Angus set out to find the rapist. Erdrich’s novel tells about the unfair justice system on the reservations. The characters of the story show the reader the similarities and differences between the justice system along with how the Natives and whites differently deal with every day and also uncommon issues.

In his infamous “Personal prejudice and financial greed are the two great evils that threaten courts of law, and once they get the upper hand they immediately hamstring society, by destroying all justice.” (Thomas More). As these words from St. Thomas More explain, personal prejudice has long played a part in threatening the judicial system if it overrules personal integrity. Personal prejudice clouds one’s judgment, and therefore makes it difficult to fairly judge the innocence of the defendant. In fact, in the play Twelve Angry Men, Juror Three exhibits the effect that personal prejudice can have on the judicial system, as well as the ineffective arguments produced from this prejudice. He reveals how unsuccessful bias-based arguments are, and the lack of evidence and persuasive reasoning resulting from them. In Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose, although Juror three attempts to prove the boy’s guilt with rhetorical appeals to ethos, ultimately his reliance on fallacious arguments and personal prejudice lead to his downfall and eventual breakdown.

In his Article, “The Range of Justice”, Gerald Gaus Explains that there will likely never be one vision of a “just society” Due to this, Gaus concludes that instead individuals have the responsibility to learn tolerance towards others whose views may be different than their own. This “moral maturity” is essential to understanding that we live in a diverse society that will likely never come to share a single conception of what is best for society as a whole, and to understand that they may be forced to live under policies and/or practices with which they may not agree.

Looking into criminal justice procedure, many administrations are at work. Starting with the police, to the courts and concluding in corrections. Though all these sectors have different tasks, their combined focus is processing the law. Regardless what the process is called criminal justice will continue to serve with discretion, conviction, and correction. When first presented with the question whether criminal justice is a system, non-system, and network I leaned toward a network. Throughout our discussions, lectures, and readings I felt the process presented itself as a network. Intertwined divisions working for a common goal. Further into my research and help from Webster, I decided that the criminal justice

Over the decades, the concept of justice has been continually evolving. This is occurring based upon different moral or legal interpretations. Evidence of this can be seen with observations from Burke (2011) who said, "Few things are of more importance to a society than its concept of justice. This is because it is justice that provides criterion for the legitimate use of force. In the name of justice people are detained, arrested, handcuffed, put on trial and punished. This concept is used to provide every society with some kind of social order. Over the last 200 years, a revolution has taken place with these principles. Our idea of it is what we employ, when dealing with ordinary individuals in daily life including: making agreements, paying bills, resolving disputes and putting criminals in jail. This is a concept that is as old as recorded history and it is familiar to people everywhere. What makes it so unique is that these ideas are constantly changing which focuses on society as a whole and how people are interacting with each other. " (Burke)