Essay About Restorative Justice And Various Theories
Essay, Pages 1 (969 words)
Latest Update: August 13, 2021
Restorative JusticeEssay Preview: Restorative JusticeReport this essayVarious theories have been advanced to justify or explain the goals of criminal punishment, including retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and restorative justice. Sometimes punishment advances more than these goals. At other times, a punishment may promote one goal and conflict with another.
Justice means attaining a position in which the conduct or actions of individuals is considered to be fair, right and appropriate for a given circumstance. Restorative justice is a theory within the criminal justice system that focuses on crimes against an individual or community and not the state. Restorative justice recognizes the emotional effect of crime on the victim, the offender, and the community. The victim plays a major part in this process and usually receives some type of restitution from the offender, whether it is monetary, community service, or whatever other services they may be able to provide. In using restorative justice, the victim is able to hear from the offender, as to why they committed the crime, get any questions answered, and participate in holding the offender accountable for their actions. At the same time, the offender can explain what type of impact this has had on their life and are given the opportunity to make things right with the victim. For such crimes as property crimes or petty offense restorative justice can be used as a way to pay the victim back for damages done, but for more serious crimes, usually involving jail time, restorative justice can be used together with sentencing to help deter crime (www.wikipedia.com).
There are several types of restorative justice. Victim-offender mediation usually involves the victim and offender. It is a time when they can get together in the presence of a mediator and try to discuss what happened. Family group conferencing usually involve the victim, the offender, and friends and family members connected to both the victim and the offender. This is more of an option when dealing with juvenile cases since the family plays a major role in the juvenile offenders life. Community restorative boards usually include trained individuals who conduct the face-to-face meetings between the victim and offender as ordered by the courts. During the meeting, the nature of the offense is discussed and a set of sanctions are proposed with the offender until an action is agreed upon and a reasonable time period that reparations can be made. Usually
The defendant can request and receive support. The victim or offender is required to pay restitution. The costs incurred for the judicial review of restitution are reimbursed, if any, in lieu of the defendant’s legal fees.
In the event of a settlement by a settlement group or community restorative board, the defendant will be advised that the restitution or settlement settlement is contingent upon the fact that the offender had a relationship with the victim and the victim’s adult son or a non adult brother and sister, or a legal guardian or adult sister or adult child. Both parties to the settlement, if any, should be available to the court at the time of the action and should have a reasonable time period for the settlement that will allow time for the victim to appeal the action after the court has ordered the settlement.
The defendant is not required to pay $10 or more for the victim to be able to come to court, be interviewed at the court, address the victim in a neutral manner, or be asked for a deposition.
In some instances, the court may order the restitution of time and the person’s costs to be reimbursed, if any, by restitution, in the face of criminal negligence and if no settlement was reached before the court ordered the restitution or settlement.
In some instances, the victims might be required to provide witnesses for the settlement action, provided the victim pays a fine or has been awarded restitution over time. If the victims provide witnesses for restitution in the face of criminal negligence, the defendant will be instructed or ordered to pay the costs. In these cases, the court may order that there be no additional penalties in either the criminal or civil court for the restitution to be paid. An exception to this is if the victim had previously lost time, as a result of the offender’s criminal conduct, and the victim has not received restitution.
The defendant is encouraged to seek mediation and an alternative court hearing. There are two types of mediation that can be attended as part of a settlement agreement, or as part of a court-ordered program to remedy the civil or criminal conduct.
In some situations or cases, the victim decides that there is no need to proceed with mediation and an alternative court hearing or mediation program to remedy the criminal conduct. There are no special rules about special mediation that allow judges and other appropriate experts to evaluate mediation and determine if there is adequate support to pursue the case. An alternative court hearing or mediation could occur if a victim’s case is brought forth as part of the process to settle. One option, of course, would be to settle the criminal matters, not the civil case.
On the other hand, if the criminal conduct occurred at the time or is now under investigation or is in the final stages of investigation, and it is not resolved without agreement, neither the court nor the mediator can consider further mediation. In either case, the mediator may agree, with the offender or a settlement group or community restorative board, that there is not enough money available or that the offender has failed to file a proper statement at the time of settlement with the court. If the offender’s case is brought forth as part of the process to settle, an alternative court
