While ________________ justice involves the concept of 'just deserts', __________________ justice concerns the steps we must take before determining guilt and administering punishment.

While ________________ justice involves the concept of 'just deserts', __________________ justice concerns the steps we must take before determining guilt and administering punishment.

• A. Procedural; Substantive
• B. Substantive; Distributive
• C. Substantive; Procedural
• D. Procedural; Distributive

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is distinguishing how justice is evaluated: the fairness of the outcome versus the fairness of the process used to reach that outcome. Just deserts is the idea that punishment should fit the crime and that the offender deserves the punishment they receive. This focuses on the deserved result, which is a hallmark of substantive justice. Procedural justice, by contrast, is about the steps and rules used to determine guilt and impose punishment—ensuring due process, rights to a fair trial, proper evidence, impartial decision-makers, and a careful, transparent decision-making process. So the first blank is filled by substantive justice, and the second by procedural justice, because it is the procedural framework that governs how we arrive at guilt and punishment, not the deservedness of the punishment itself.

The main idea here is distinguishing how justice is evaluated: the fairness of the outcome versus the fairness of the process used to reach that outcome. Just deserts is the idea that punishment should fit the crime and that the offender deserves the punishment they receive. This focuses on the deserved result, which is a hallmark of substantive justice. Procedural justice, by contrast, is about the steps and rules used to determine guilt and impose punishment—ensuring due process, rights to a fair trial, proper evidence, impartial decision-makers, and a careful, transparent decision-making process. So the first blank is filled by substantive justice, and the second by procedural justice, because it is the procedural framework that governs how we arrive at guilt and punishment, not the deservedness of the punishment itself.