"Social justice is justice in relation to a fair balance in the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals's rights are recognized and protected."
The concept of fairness and equality in the distribution of resources and opportunities regardless of race, gender, socioeconomic status, or other factors.
Systemic racism: The ways in which racism is embedded within social systems and institutions, and how it perpetuates inequalities and injustices in criminal justice policy.
Police brutality: The use of excessive force by law enforcement officers against individuals, especially those from marginalized communities.
Mass incarceration: The disproportionate number of people from marginalized communities who are incarcerated, and the economic and social effects of mass incarceration.
The War on Drugs: The history, policies, and impact of the government's war on drugs, including its role in perpetuating systemic racism.
Restorative justice: An alternative to traditional punitive justice systems that focuses on repairing harm caused by crime, rather than punishing offenders.
Implicit bias: Unconscious attitudes and stereotypes that can influence decision-making in criminal justice policies.
Sentencing disparities: The differential treatment of individuals in the criminal justice system based on factors such as race, gender, or socioeconomic status.
Youth justice: The ways in which the criminal justice system handles cases involving minors and the impact of these policies on young people and communities.
Juvenile justice: A specific area of youth justice focused on minors who have committed crimes and the policies and practices in place to address those crimes.
Racial profiling: The practice of law enforcement officers targeting individuals based on their race, ethnicity, or national origin.
Miscarriages of justice: Instances in which individuals are wrongly convicted or punished for crimes they did not commit.
Intersectionality: The concept that individuals have multiple identities and experiences that interact to affect their experiences of injustice or privilege.
Victims' rights: The legal and social support provided to victims of crime, including access to resources and the criminal justice system.
Domestic violence: The physical, emotional, and psychological abuse that occurs within intimate relationships, and the policies in place to address it.
Sexual assault: Any unwanted sexual contact or behavior, and the policies and systems in place to support survivors and hold perpetrators accountable.
Restorative justice: A system of criminal justice that focuses on rehabilitating the offender, repairing the harm caused to the victim and community, and reconciling the parties involved.
Retributive justice: An approach in which punishment is seen as necessary for the offender to pay for their crime and provide a deterrent effect to prevent future criminal behavior.
Distributive justice: A concept that refers to the fair distribution of resources, opportunities, and benefits in society, including access to justice and legal representation.
Procedural justice: The notion that the criminal justice system should provide fair and transparent procedures, both for defendants and victims, and ensuring that everyone's rights are respected.
Gender justice: An approach that aims to address gender inequalities and discrimination in the criminal justice system, including specifically targeted policies to address violence against women and girls.
Racial justice: The focus of policies and initiatives aimed at addressing institutional and systemic racism within the criminal justice system.
Economic justice: Policies that seek to address economic inequalities and promote financial stability and socioeconomic equity.
Environmental justice: Policies and initiatives focused on addressing environmental racism and protecting marginalized communities from the disproportionate impacts of pollution and climate change.
Youth justice: Policies aimed at protecting the rights and interests of young people in the criminal justice system.
Indigenous justice: Policies that recognize the unique historical and cultural context and promote the healing of Indigenous communities impacted by colonization and oppression.
"The concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fulfill their societal roles and receive their due from society."
"The emphasis has been on the breaking of barriers for social mobility, the creation of safety nets, and economic justice."
"Social justice assigns rights and duties in the institutions of society, which enables people to receive the basic benefits and burdens of cooperation."
"The relevant institutions often include taxation, social insurance, public health, public school, public services, labor law and regulation of markets, to ensure distribution of wealth, and equal opportunity."
"Interpretations that relate justice to a reciprocal relationship to society are mediated by differences in cultural traditions, some of which emphasize the individual responsibility toward society and others the equilibrium between access to power and its responsible use."
"Reinterpreting historical figures such as Bartolomé de las Casas."
"Gender, ethnic, and social equality, advocating justice for migrants, prisoners, the environment, and the physically and developmentally disabled."
"Classical and Christian philosophical sources, from Plato and Aristotle to Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas."
"The term social justice finds its earliest uses in the late 18th century, albeit with unclear theoretical or practical meanings."
"The term was popularized generically through the writings of Antonio Rosmini-Serbati."
"Progressive Era American legal scholars, particularly Louis Brandeis and Roscoe Pound."
"From the early 20th century it was also embedded in international law and institutions."
"John Rawls in A Theory of Justice (1971)."
"The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action treats social justice as a purpose of human rights education."
"The use of the term was early on subject to accusations of redundancy and of rhetorical flourish."
"Luigi Taparelli coined and defined the term in a natural law social scientific treatise, establishing the natural law principle."
"Social justice is invoked today in efforts for gender, ethnic, and social equality, advocating justice for migrants, prisoners, the environment, and the physically and developmentally disabled."
"Social justice was made central to the philosophy of the social contract."
"Universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice."