1) The document summarizes the key topics discussed in a criminal justice class over the first half of the semester. These include defining justice, the relationship between justice and law, and the relationship between justice, law, and criminal policy. 2) It proposes that the second half of the semester focus on "riddle me this batman" style class discussions to further prepare students to write an essay addressing a policy issue for the final exam. 3) This will allow students to discuss justice, laws, morality, and policy in relation to the exam's requirement to analyze a policy and propose changes to make it more just.

1. Running Head: Proseminar SAR 4 1
Proseminar SAR 4
Marcos Corley
University of Texas at Arlington

2. Proseminar SAR 4 2
Abstract
This essay addresses the three most important aspects of what has been discussed in the
class up to this point. The first being the concept of justice and what it means. Following
that is the relationship between the concept of justice and its application through laws.
Finally, the relationship between justice, the law, and criminal policy and why these
relationships are significant. As for the direction of the class in the second half of the
semester, the “riddle me this batman” segments that are scheduled are a perfectly viable
means to preparing all the students in the class for the half of the final essay not fully
addressed so far.

3. Proseminar SAR 4 3
In the syllabus for this class there was an outline of four major points to be
discussed throughout the course of the semester. The purpose of all of this information is
so that the students taking the course have an understanding of the essential nature of
justice from both a theoretical and practical standpoint. The structure of the class is four
overarching themes about justice that will be discussed to prepare the students for the
final essay examination. At this point in the class all four topics have been addressed,
leaving only pertinent discussions about the topic for the final exam. The three most
important topics that have been discussed in the class at this point are the first three in the
order of which they appear on the syllabus. The first topic of discussion was what justice
is exactly and how the definition of justice is important. Following that is the relationship
between justice and the law and why that relationship is significant. Finally leading to the
discussion about the relationship between justice, law, and criminal policy and why these
relationship dynamics are important to the justice system as well as societies functionality
as a whole.
At the beginning of the class, there was significant time put into processing what
justice is exactly not only to this society, but to mankind collectively. It is critically
important to understand this, because the basis for society hinges on what it defines
justice as, and how well people understand that definition. This was a difficult topic to
breach because of the fact that justice is inherently fluid and defined differently by each
society. Philosophers have discussed all the various understandings of why people feel
inherently obligated to serve justice. Most of their work is still seen as applicable to
society today. John Locke’s social contract theory is the essential cornerstone for how
justice is defined and carried out in the United States. However, even some of the more

4. Proseminar SAR 4 4
detached views held by people like Hobbes are still apparent in the way that the
government justifies its behavior. The patriot act after 9/11 is a perfect example of the
government using Hobbes’ outlook to justify the denial of rights to the people. The most
important aspect to take away from the understanding of justice is that there is a distinct
difference between justice and fairness. They both stand alone because of the fact that
unjust laws exist and it is unfair to enforce unjust laws, making the two different by
definition. Understanding how a society defines justice is paramount to discussion about
laws, policies, and political structure.
The second important point addressed in the class so far is the relationship that justice
has to laws. How a society defines justice is directly linked to how the laws are structured
for people to live by. Justice as it relates to law is considered an adaptation of human
evolution, because people can only survive if they live in some kind of society together
and in order to function societies must hold a standard for how people should behave.
When someone behaves in a manner that is deemed destructive to the continuation of a
society, the laws are set in place to ensure that the violator knows what he or she did
wrong and that the punishment for that deviation is fair. This application of justice in law
making can be noted from biblical culture to all the countries in the world today. An
example to note the importance of justice being directly related to the law is the Supreme
Court case of Tennessee v Garner. This was an incident where a law existed that allowed
for the unjust removal of a person’s due process rights, which caused a societal uproar.
The identification of a law that is found to be unjust by the standards set by the society,
led to the immediate redaction of that law in its entirety. Needless to say, the overarching

5. Proseminar SAR 4 5
relationship between justice and the law is paramount to the legitimate functionality of a
government in relation to its people.
Finally, the third point that has been addressed is the relationship between justice, the
law, and criminal policy. This is a critical relationship because of the fact that most
people see this application of justice in their every day lives. While there is an
understanding of inherent rights as a concept, the policies that are structured under the
confines of those rights directly impact the way people conduct themselves on a day-to-
day basis. The significance of these relationships is astronomical because of how public
perception is directly linked to the legitimacy of the government in their ability to
perform their sole function of protecting the people. For example, the difference between
the government’s recent shift from distributive justice to restorative justice and how that
has affected policymaking is directly related to the public’s concept of justice. One of the
changes that prove this to be true is the adoption of problem solving courts, which are
unjust on a technical level, but by societal standards actually carry justice better than the
alternative. Another policy change is procedural fairness in police policies rather than the
distributive justice model. Procedural fairness is the policy change at the departmental
level of police training to make officers aware that their actions might be legally justified,
but that does not mean they are morally justified or acceptable in the eyes of the public.
Without people’s trust in law enforcement and the courts, the government has failed to
uphold its only justification for its existence and that is why the relationship between
justice, the laws, and policy making is so significant.
The second plank of the final essay prompt is to decide on a policy and determine
whether it is just and what changes could be made to make it more just. While this is

6. Proseminar SAR 4 6
certainly a topic that has been discussed in the class with the campus conceal carry SAR,
it seems the most viable direction for class discussion. The topics of justice, laws,
morality, and policy have been addressed thoroughly in regard to their presence on the
final exam. With that in mind, the scheduled “riddle me this batman” segments of class
are aligned perfectly with this portion of the semester to allow for maximum preparation
to write the final essay.
In conclusion, at this point in the semester there have been four significant points that
have been addressed, the three most important being the first three chronologically. The
first point being the determination of what justice is exactly. Following that, the
relationship between justice and the law and how that relationship is significant. Finally
leading to the relationship between justice, the law, and policy and why these
relationships are important to the functionality of the criminal justice system. All of these
discussions beg the question of what is left to discuss in class to close the semester.
Because the first half of the exam is covered by the first half of the semester, the “riddle
me this batman” segments are appropriate for the second half of the semester to finish
preparing the students for the final essay.