The Cost of Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Cost of Justice - Essay Example (Collins English Dictionary2011) Defining cost answers the question what is the cost of justice? Cost is defined as something that is not free. If something has a value it can be bought. In terms of being bought, can justice be bought? Justice is something that is supposed to be free to everyone. Everyone deserves the right to justice. In America justice does not live up to its definition. Justice can be bought for a cost. The cost can be money, freedom, discipline, or losing something. Many states offer justice for a cost. Justice can be very expensive when dealing on a statewide level. The cost is great for states wanting to keep justice free and well disciplined. The cost for justice in most states can be very expensive. The state of Virginia spends a great deal of funds on different expenditures. These expenditures can range anywhere from $10.00 to tens of thousands of dollars. justice may have out of pocket expenses. Some seeking justice have no way of paying and are required to seek justice from the state. Although that justice may be free to the individual, it is not free to the state or federal. Justice comes from somewhere at a specific cost. To make sure justice is served, states like the state of Virginia have costs. In 2005, â€Å"the average prisoner in a Virginia prison costs $31,200 for the year.† (Stephan.) If there are 500 prisoners, the costs for one year are well over ten million dollars. That is a lot of money to spend on justice for one year. That amount is only for prison expenditures. There is much other state expenditure that provides justice. Justice does come at other costs. Punishing others and sentencing them to prison is only one way to provide justice at a cost. Health care for corrections has an even bigger costs then keeping a prisoner. The state of Virginia, â€Å"spends over 4,333 million in corrections healthcare costs†. The costs for corrections are huge. After looking over some of the