What Does Social Justice Mean to You? Cade Jones

07/03/2017

As part of an ongoing feature in our alumni magazine, we asked graduate student Cade Jones to reflect on the College's social justice mission.

To me, social justice is not a luxury but a right and necessity for every human on the planet.

To me, social justice is not a luxury but a right and necessity for every human on the planet. It is where everyone in society has an equal chance of living in harmony without fear of crime, but if crimes are committed around them, then justice steps in and promises that punishments are handed down fairly and equally.

Justice is not just punishment alone, but also knowing that a criminal is not in the community, that law enforcement is there doing their jobs correctly and seeing that justice is fair and timely.

As a graduate student, these are a few of the elements that draw me into learning more about the criminal justice system and wanting to ensure everyone in society feels–and is– safe, that their best interest is in mind and that they can live peacefully knowing there are people looking out for them. Social justice is everyone getting a fair opportunity to thrive.

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This article was originally published in the Spring 2017 issue of SoJust, the College for Public Health and Social Justice's alumni magazine.