Archive for category Restorative Justice
Restorative and Punitive Criminal Justice System
Posted by admin in Restorative Justice on August 15, 2011
Criminal law is that body of rules that defines crimes, treats for its punishments, and provides for the process of applying these said rules in certain and specific cases. This branch of law specifically deals with all forms of crimes. It makes sure that the penal provisions are clear, specific, and comprehensive enough to punish criminals and administer justice to the victims and society. Either commission of acts that the penal law prohibits or omission of a conduct that the penal law mandates one to perform constitutes a crime. These violations of criminal law are not only against the rights of the private individuals considered as the victims but they are also primarily against the rights of the general public or society represented by the government. In the criminal justice system, the government prosecutor who takes charge of handling the case against the defendant represents the victim, both the state and the private complainant.
Criminal law has two famous views that are akin to the carrot and stick formula. The stick aspect of the penal law is through its punitive and retaliatory character. Most nations today still adhere to this characterization of criminal law. Even in advanced countries, some penal laws are still highly punitive in nature. The punitive aspect of these laws is manifested by way of providing most if not purely punishment only to those who violated these penal provisions. Punishment is inevitable and a natural consequence for violating any law. However, the nature of these punishments is mostly in the form of retaliation thus leaving the convicts no other way of rehabilitation but through the rough form of imprisonment and isolation. Read the rest of this entry »
Restorative Justice – A Native American Perspective
Posted by admin in Restorative Justice on August 15, 2011
Imagine for a moment that you come down with a cold or the flu and, upon seeing this, your neighbors and fellow citizens have you arrested and thrown into jail. Shortly after your arrest, you go before a judge and jury who label you “criminal” and “deviant” for having stepped outside of social norms. They send you to prison where you sit for years, even perhaps after the illness has passed.
You may be saying, “Thank God this is only hypothetical and could never happen in an intelligent civilization,” but guess what? It is happening. And not in some far-off country with an evil dictator. It is happening here in America.
No, not for the physically ill but for those who suffer from psychological and sociological imbalance. These mentally and spiritually ill people have been filling this country’s prisons for hundreds of years.
It is strange to me that some of the very people that would be shocked and appalled at the idea of throwing a cancer patient in prison for treatment would be the same person who would holler for more prisons and longer sentences in the case of psychological illness. Read the rest of this entry »