The Right to Question Authority

Sor Juana's defiance of ecclesiastical authority—her insistence on the right to question—challenges systems that demand obedience without accountability. In the context of justice, this concept critiques punitive systems that operate without genuine accountability to those they harm. Punitive justice often becomes an exercise of authority without answerability: courts decide, prisons confine, and the harmed have little voice in determining outcomes. Restorative approaches, by contrast, are built on the principle that justice systems themselves must be accountable to questioning. The victims, offenders, and communities affected by harm have the right to examine why certain responses were chosen and to advocate for alternatives. Sor Juana's intellectual courage suggests that a just system must remain open to critique and modification based on lived experience. This prevents justice systems from becoming instruments of unchecked power and ensures they remain responsive to those they claim to serve.