How do we make justice more fair and accessible?
I just read an article about an Arlington judge overturning ‘middle housing’ options for the Arlington county of Virginia. And this line stood out to me:
“‘To see today that all that work is undone by a single judge based on the efforts of 10 homeowners who have much more time and money is really disappointing,’ said Jane Green with YIMBYs (yes in my backyard) of Northern Virginia.”
Combine this with the eroding trust of the Supreme Court since it’s a very biased set of people heavily influenced by those wealthy enough to pay, and I’m noticing a trend. That trend being that courts don’t seem to serve the masses - only the wealthy, property owning classes. And I’ve heard somewhere (likely Scene On Radio’s ”The Excess of Democracy” episode) that this is inherently by design.
Because, in an ideal world - the courts and justice system would be about healing. Not vindication, vengeance, and fortunes. We would seek out how to build and grow so that court isn’t about “winners & losers” but how we move forward together.
Don’t worry. I’ll keep dreaming on it.
But in the mean time, I’m really stuck wondering - what can we do to make the judicial arm serve the people, not just the wealthy?
How might we restore trust in systems that historically don’t want our opinions?
What actions can the singular citizen make to improve the situation?
Of course, I don’t know the answer to any of these. But glad to hear what others do have to say on it.
[Cover image courtesy of Sebastian Pichler via Unsplash]