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Justice: Understandably Misunderstood Essay

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The concept of justice is simultaneously recognized and misunderstood around the world. The Oxford English Dictionary defines justice as “The quality of being (morally) just or righteous.” For such a brief definition it would not be unlikely to assume that the term justice is a superficial one. On the contrary, this age-old term might have started with a single simple meaning but has developed many more over its existence. The ways civilizations have evolved have in turn forced the word to evolve. Due to this evolution of civilizations, the current state of justice has been lost and it is important to recollect it traits. Many branches of justice now exist and it is possible one may become overwhelmed when searching for its true …show more content…

His presence in the Middle East was accompanied by brutality and murder, taking the lives of thousands. Hussein was executed after his capture. Retributive justice was served in this case. Continuing, retributive justice is not restricted to terrorists and war criminals, but might also include serial killers and psychopaths. Whether it is one live or one thousand, it is still a very severe offense which must be addressed accordingly. It is important to keep in mind serial killers and psychopaths have intent to harm. The crimes committed by these wrongdoers aren’t accidents. This is the leading factor in making them eligible for retributive justice. However, retributive justice can also be disadvantageous. One glaring negative effect in general is its tendency to resemble revenge. Revenge is retaliation. It is usually a personal matter of getting even with the wrongdoer. By seeking revenge the victim becomes the victimizer in which case retributive justice has become vengeance. Obviously, it is easy to confuse revenge with retributive justice. They are both a response to injustice that has been committed against the innocent. Perhaps the most important thing to consider when distinguishing between the two is retributive justice can be served by transferring the responsibilities to a higher authority that acts formally in accordance with the law to punish offenders. Due to these negative effects it is important to

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