Most people have an innate sense of justice. Noah Webster defined justice in his 1828 dictionary as:
The virtue which consists in giving to every one what is his due.
However, based on recent evidence, it appears America doesn’t really have a “justice system;” rather, what we have is “Just a System.” After all, how can we claim to have a justice system when the concepts of the rule of law and due process have become so absent from it?
The Pledge of Allegiance ends in the words, “With Liberty and Justice for all.” What happens when the laws and the legal system are not seeking justice? Then, we no longer have a “justice system”; what we have is “just a system.” Whether it’s using the legal system or the bureaucracy to punish political opponents or finding ways to have undue influence on elections or courts to unbalance the scales of justice, there are plenty of ways our so-called justice system is actually seeking injustice.
What can the American people do to protect themselves from this injustice system? I believe there are two main areas we need to focus on, and they are both up to us as individuals. First, prepare to defend and assert your rights. That’s what John Jay said was the purpose of individuals reading and studying the Constitution. Second, we need to find organizations and individuals who can back us up when the tyrants of injustice come knocking on our door.
