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thority over others , whether as parent , employer , doctor , state official , etc ., justice can also be seen as the effort to balance others in relation to themselves and to society , its laws and mores and traditions . The great majority of us allow ourselves to be placed in this state of balance as we recognize and accept such authority .
But not always . As mature , self-respecting individuals , we give ourselves the freedom to judge for ourselves . In youth , we generally obey our parents . We stop doing so when we want to judge and understand things for ourselves — to have our own experiences that bring us wisdom , that allow us to think independently and beneficially for ourselves and others . Most of us generally obey the doctor ’ s orders , the police officer ’ s , the court official ’ s , the state official ’ s , the priest ’ s or minister ’ s or imam ’ s ( or the official of whatever religion with which we identify , if any ), or try to follow their advice , but we rarely , if ever , once mature ( once we realize mistakes can be made ) do so blindly . We are always balancing the evidence of another ’ s authority with our own calculation as to the scope of such authority and the wisdom of obeying the other ’ s exercise of that authority . Sometimes , perhaps , fully informed ; almost always , not . It may take only a millisecond of conscious or subconscious awareness ( e . g ., yes , the person in that car behind me with the blinking
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blue lights and the siren must be the police , and I better pull over to see what they want or to let them go by — even though there is a very small chance it is not the police ) because we have seen the pattern of the authority exercised before and have learned it is best to obey .
So as the goal of balancing is balance , the term “ justice ” also includes the act of balancing . And if a peace is resolved or determined among parties at conflict by themselves or with the help of others , there is a balance . There is justice . Some measure of it , at least . We cannot conceive of a more fundamental goal of justice than peace — wherein all those who have been at odds are at peace . The parties are free to leave one another and are free to pursue their personal interests .
How else can we know this to be true ? That there is balance in our lives ? That there is justice ? Regardless of the changing nature of our laws ( when one day possession of pot for sale is a crime and the next a laudable source of taxable income ), regardless of the perpetual conflict in the world , we can see such balance in ourselves . We can see that we exist in the image of balance and , therefore , in the image of justice . We exist physically in the image of balance with two eyes , two arms , two legs , the two lobes of the brain , and more , all fashioned and formed , all grown , in sym-
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metry — in balance . We walk in balance and try to remain in balance .
So , too , we try to be in mental and spiritual in balance . With our minds , we are constantly weighing the words of others and our own with what we perceive through our senses — hearing , seeing ( reading ), etc . We try to remain in spiritual balance amid all the hubbub and harmony within our lives by never getting angry or frustrated — at least , in an “ unjustified ” way — and by keeping control of our feelings and passions . So , therefore , we think in terms of justice and try to remain in justice by being just — by sharing and taking what is fair given the circumstances and the factors that are relevant in our eyes and in the eyes of others . Justice is at the basis of all our arguments — even among those our justice system has labeled “ criminals .” 6 Justice is the polestar of our existence — we leave it only to yearn to return to it .
Justice is Universal
Justice as balance and as acts of balancing , is universal . It is something every man and woman deals with on a daily basis in deciding how much to give , how much to take , how much to receive , or how much to share — be it with work , with family , with friends or with or for others , whether in words or deeds . No matter how wild or bi-
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The Promise of Restorative Justice |