Laws are created to ensure human security, provide justice, and protect human rights. The justice system exists to ensure that everyone is acting in accordance with the law. In the event of a violation, that is, the crime, the system ensures that the appropriate punishment is obtained. American laws, and the justice system, were formed during the liberation from the power of the English crown. Nevertheless, the legacy of the English government and religion, namely Christianity, which professed most of the immigrants, influenced the creation of the justice system.
The very direction of the justice system activity echoes Christian religion. According to beliefs, God created specific laws following which a person acts morally. Violation of these laws implies punishment and obedience – reward, which a person receives after death. The justice system, in turn, also protects the body of laws. In it, jails are punishment, and safety can be considered a reward for other law-abiding people. Such an interpretation may mean that the ideas of justice, crime, and punishment reflect Christian standards.
The belief that criminals can be rehabilitated and redeemed also significantly echoes Christian claims. According to history professor Jenkins (2018), religion and the church also played a significant role in reducing punishment’s cruelty. According to another source, faith influenced the establishment of generally accepted ethical standards, which also regulate the activities of the justice system itself (“Moral and religious influences,” n.d.). For example, the police have their ethical code for behavior with the arrested, and the prisons have their own about punishing prisoners. Thus, Christianity became the basis both for the creation of the justice system and for the establishment of its principles of functioning.
As noted earlier, the justice system reflects the Christian defense of humans. This fact means that Christianity initially assumes the existence of specific laws and rights – natural law and rights. Natural law is a set of laws stipulated by God and is binding on everyone (LaRowe, 2014). Under the influence of the ideas of the Enlightenment, the focus shifted in favor of rights. Assuming the naturalness of rights, one can say that people have certain freedoms or privileges because of their nature (Grayb 2014). In America, this concept was used during the Revolution and presented in the Declaration of Independence. That is, assessing the impact on the establishment of the justice system, it can be argued that seeing how the natural law is violated, a person had the right to defend it.
Natural Law and Rights Theory and Christian concepts relate to each other. Natural laws and rights are a manifestation of morality and ethics created by religion in people’s lives. Moreover, they are united by the goal – security and righteousness of the life of individuals. Even now, when people tend to secularism and depart from religiosity, the influence of established morality is felt in society. Thus, natural laws and rights are inspired by Christian concepts.
Thus, the American justice system, like the country’s laws, was formed under the significant influence of Christianity. People who came to America to settle shared one religion, and for this reason, its use to establish effective laws is not surprising. The ideas of specific rules that society should follow, punishments for disobedience, and the possibility of redemption have become the basis of the justice system. Concepts, in turn, echo the natural laws and rights granted by God to people. The idea of protecting natural rights was widely used during the American Revolution and is presented in the Declaration of Independence.
References
Gray, E. G. (2014). Natural rights. In M. Spencer (Ed.), The Bloomsbury encyclopedia of the American Enlightenment. London: Bloomsbury. Web.
Jenkins, P. (2018). How Christian views have shaped criminal justice system. Web.
LaRowe, N. L. (2014). Natural law. In M. Spencer (Ed.), The Bloomsbury encyclopedia of the American Enlightenment. London: Bloomsbury. Web.
Moral and religious influences. (n.d.). Web.