Restorative Justice (Touchy Feely Justice Or Tough Love Justice? You Decide Alert)

Los Angeles Time ^ | 10/01/05 | Jennifer Warren

[goldstategop]

Her path is being followed by a rising number of crime victims and survivors. Despite ever-tougher sentences and the world's highest incarceration rate, many victims feel the nation's traditional method of meting out justice comes up short. Anguished and unable to heal, they are finding strength through an alternative philosophy called restorative justice.

Inspired by ancient tribal traditions and biblical teachings, restorative justice aims to achieve accountability for crimes in a direct, tangible way — rather than simply through "symbolic" penalties imposed by the state. As supporters see it, offenders must understand that their crimes were not some abstract violation of law, but a harm inflicted upon real people who need a chance to be made whole again.

In perhaps its purest expression, restorative justice occurs through mediated, face-to-face encounters between victim (or surviving relatives) and offender. Victims chronicle their pain, ask nagging questions, speak their piece. Offenders, in turn, confront the extent of the human damage they caused, apologize and agree — often in a written contract — to make amends.

Through the process, both sides — as well as the community damaged by the crime — theoretically are "restored."

[goldstategop]

Restorative Justice: touchy feely justice or tough love justice? Is getting an offender to look at the victim in the eye and make amends for the deed a liberal way of coddling criminals or does it make the offender give meaningful reparations to make the victim as well as society whole? You decide.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[glorgau]

Unfortunately, there are some sick individuals out there that would find the idea of victims confronting them amusing. Those sort of people only respond to Skinnierian therapy - i.e. you apply electric shock until behavior reaches the desired forms.

[goldstategop]

I do agree its not applicable in every situation - there's nothing a murderer could do to make someone who lost a loved one whole and sociopaths are incapable of expressing genuine remorse. Its clear this type of program would not make amends or benefit the victim along with that kind of offender. But in all other criminal cases, it could change lives for the better. Prison will never change a human being into a better person by itself and perhaps getting an offender to actually work on compensating the victim and changing his own behavior in the process will stop him from returning to life of crime. As I personally see it, properly designed, a restorative justice program can act as a form of "tough love." Basically, such a program says you did it, here's your chance to do right and repair the harm you did and be given the opportunity to grow into a good person. And it also empowers the victim by getting him involved in deciding how he wants to be made whole again. Its a win-win for all parties involved and it affirms the need to live by society's values.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[monocle]

In criminal proceedings today, more often than not the penalty phase of a trial is overly tilted to the issue of rehabilitation and mitigating circumstances. What is lost is the issue of deterence not only for the defendant being tried and found guilty but for others that may commit a similar crime in the future. Victims should be allowed to be heard but it should be remembered that the state is prosecuting the defendant because the state, and by extention the people, has the duty and the obligation to protect society.

[goldstategop]

Of course. But it should not be forgotten the victim suffered a loss that needs to be compensated. Just locking up the offender won't make the victim whole nor will it institute a process that will change the offender's values. As currently constituted, prisons are laboratories for equipping offenders with the know how to resume a criminal career. Its time for a different approach and I think its not one where nothing is asked of the offender.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[monocle]

As currently constituted, prisons are laboratories for equipping offenders with the know how to resume a criminal career.

One prisoner per cell and one hour of exercise per day would go a long way in discouraging furthering one's criminal education.

Victims have always had remedy to compensate for their losses and it is called a civil suit.

[tacticalogic]

In criminal proceedings today, more often than not the penalty phase of a trial is overly tilted to the issue of rehabilitation and mitigating circumstances.

I think that may be at least partially due to the ever-increasing number of ill-conceived and ill-written "poster child" laws. It's becoming increasingly easy to break the law and be subject to prosecution without having any real criminal intent.

[monocle]

I agree to a limited extent, particularly to those "crimes" which deal with the govenment's interference in individuals' rights. In long recognized crimes such murder, rape and robbery, considerations of the criminal's background should be minimal except for prior criminal activity.

[tacticalogic]

I agree to a limited extent, particularly to those "crimes" which deal with the govenment's interference in individuals' rights. In long recognized crimes such murder, rape and robbery, considerations of the criminal's background should be minimal except for prior criminal activity.

They should be, but there seems to be an absence of any codified objective criteria for separating the two. If you make it subjective and discretionary it leads to abuse. If you make it a blanket requirement it leads to irrational decisions.