Social Justice/Criminal Justice

This book builds on Heffernan's last bookRights and Wrongs:Rethinking the Foundations of Criminal Justiceby examining the class and racial disparities at the heart of current law - disparities that, according to many, generate a system of criminalinjustice.It argues that these disparities run throughout the legal system; they're present in policing, corrections, and sentencing. Itdiscussesthe relationship betweenthe two kinds of justice-social justice and criminal justiceand how to ensurefairness in state-imposed punishment.Ittheorises the extent to which criminal law must address considerations of social justice to ensurea fair system. Itproposes a framework for analyzing disparities, provides an overview of contemporary research concerning them, and offers reform proposals for addressing them. Written in an accessible way, itintroduces readers tophilosophical theory and doctrines in constitutional law and thus it speaks to a wideaudience concerned about racial and class disparities in the criminal justice system.It responds to a half-century's worth of public concern about the legitimacy of the state's exercise of its penal power while explaining the pertinence of social justice principles to the criminal justice system.