This looks like an assignment for your homework.
That may be true, but I still think it’s a question worth considering.
It’s a question that’s been considered over and over again throughout history by academics and philosophers. There’s well-researched books on the topic by experts.
Asking Lemmy is like asking some random person on the street what this whole quantum mechanics thing is about.
You could read up on the subject and discuss particulars with other people interested in the topic. It’s not a subjective question to drop on a bunch of random doom scrollers.
I’m not concerned with definitions, but rather with people’s opinions. This seems to me especially relevant given that there are many US users here. I’m interested in how they perceive what is happening in the US, what their legal system allows, and whether they consider it just in any way.
The purpose of a legal system is to provide stability to a society, so that a person can safely pursue long term goals over their lifetime in a predictable environment.
The most effective way to accomplish this is to make a system where laws originate from a process where people are allowed to have some say in the creation of the laws that will apply to them, and the laws are then applied uniformly, consistently and fairly to all people regardless of background.
Our system partially fulfils this.
First there was moral reasoning and feelings, then there were religion, and now there is laws. I think it works quite well for countries with a healthy government.
A legal system should be providing the framework to deal with disagreement and should be fair and equitable. Mine is being trampled all over atm so is not doing its purpose so well.
The legal system has many jobs to fulfill, but in the broadest sense it serves to construct, maintain, and administrate the contract between a government and its citizens.
In spite of recent events, I do believe that the American legal system is one of the best that has ever existed. That isn’t to say it is perfect or even nearly so. Our system has many flaws, and recent events have done a great job at highlighting those flaws. However, it is worth remembering the severity of previous systems which lacked basic pillars we now take for granted (like the presumption of innocence)
It is also worth remembering that our legal system has a lot to contend with: not just the scale of the American population but the vastness of American diversity. Never before and nowhere else have such massively diverse populations been able to construct a society where we are all empowered to disagree with each other. The contract which makes this possible may still fail do provide these things equitably and may now be strained beneath its own weight, but the simple fact that we are able to discuss these flaws and conceive reasonable avenues for improvement is evidence that our system is (imperfectly) working.
You probably would not appreciate me punching you in the face and taking your phone. If I’m stronger than you there is not much you can do. If you get the entire tribe involved then you can.
That being said every legal system is perfectly adapted to how society was in the recent past.
