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Chapter 10

Chapter 10. Economic and Restorative Justice Reparations. Community justice is a philosophy of using the community to control and reduce crime and to rebuild community relationships through community policing, community courts and restorative justice

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Chapter 10

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  1. Chapter 10 Economic and Restorative Justice Reparations

  2. Community justice is a philosophy of using the community to control and reduce crime and to rebuild community relationships through community policing, community courts and restorative justice • Restorative justice is a sentencing philosophy that emphasizes the offender taking responsibility to repair the harm done to the victim and the surrounding community

  3. Restorative Justice Principles • RJ is community-based and combines mainstream American criminal justice with indigenous justice practiced by Native Americans • RJ focuses on the victim, the offender and the community, rather than just punishing the offender • RJ uses reintegrative shaming rather than disintegrative stigmatization

  4. Forms of Restorative Justice • Victim-offender mediation • Reparation boards • Family group conferencing • Circle sentencing All forms of RJ take place post conviction in the sentencing phase

  5. Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Methods • Measures of RJ include: • Satisfaction with the outcome/process • Payment of restitution • Cost savings • Recidivism rate

  6. Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Methods, cont. • Problems with RJ are: • The involvement of community members who may place blame on the victim • Some victim’s groups find RJ still focused on offenders • Some criticize RJ for its emphasis on reintegrative shaming, rather than retribution and stigmatization

  7. Restitution • Restitution is court-ordered payment by the offender to the victim (or the victim’s family) to cover the tangible losses that occurred during or following the crime • The history of restitution goes back to the Bible and the Code of Hammurabi • Stephen Schafer argued in the 1960s that to elevate the victim’s importance, restitution must be a part of the system

  8. Restitution • Congress passed three acts in the 1990s to increase the collection of restitution • Losses by victims available for compensation include: • Lost income, medical expenses, transportation to court, necessary child care, counseling sessions, sexual assault exams, and more • Eligible parties include the victim or the victim’s family

  9. Restitution • Problems associated with restitution are: • Underutilization • restitution is ordered in only 14% of felony convictions • The lack of victim participation in the system and general lack of knowledge • Indigence of the defendant • Determining the proper amount • Collection

  10. Effectiveness of Restitution • Studies reflect that probationers in Pennsylvania and inmates in Minnesota who paid restitution were less likely to be rearrested and reconvicted • Offenders, victims and the general public find restitution to be a fair community sanction

  11. Community Service • Community Service is unpaid service to the public to compensate for harm done by the offender • The most frequent type of community service is picking up roadside litter, doing landscape maintenance, removing litter or painting buildings • Community service began in the U.S. in 1966 in Alameda County, California

  12. Community Service • The U.S. did not follow the English model of allowing community service as an acceptable alternative to imprisonment • Community service is both punitive and rehabilitative • At least 34 states use community service • While little research has been done regarding effectiveness, community service has wide public support

  13. Fines • A fine is a monetary sanction imposed by the judge with the amount depending on the severity of the offense • The three types of fines are fixed fines, forfeitures and day fines • 90% of fines go to victim/witness assistance programs or victim compensation funds • A fine is viewed as a punishment

  14. Fines • In 2003, fines were ordered in 25% of all felony cases and 13% of federal cases • In Bearden v. Georgia (1983) the Supreme Court held that probation cannot be revoked solely due to an offender’s inability to pay a fine or restitution • Unwillingness to pay may result in revocation

  15. A forfeiture is a government seizure of property that was illegally obtained or used in connection with illegal activity, and can be either criminal or civil • Day fines, or structured fines, are court fines figured as multiples of the offender’s daily income and provide the same percentage of financial hardship to each offender

  16. A fee is a court-imposed reimbursement that the offender pays for the administration of the criminal justice system • Typical fees or “costs” are assessed for: • DNA testing • Prosecution/court costs • Supervision fees • Electronic monitoring/GPS

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