The source examines the impact of victims being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned, and the international approach to the issue. Australia has signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) signed by the Australian government in 1972, which states once a person has been wrongfully convicted and they have received a punishment, by law they are entitled to compensation unless its proved there is an unknown fact which has arisen. However, this was never adopted into Australian law, as a result any individual wrongfully convicted and imprisoned isn’t entitled to any compensation under Australian law. Australia’s commitments to signing this is that all states and territories must meet their obligations under article 14 (6) which are incorporation of the domestic article into domestic legislation to ensure a legal right to compensation. Though a state or territory government does have the ability to make an ex gratia payment to a wrongfully convicted individual through a request or their own doing.
Second, the post crisis victim needs must be met. This includes the first responders’ needs at the time of the incident and their mental health needs afterwards. Third, victims’ rights and services must be provided during the criminal justice process. This is taking into the consideration of the victims and their rights to see the judicial proceedings carried out.
“On July 30, 1992, an innocent person was convicted of a heinous crime”. Guy Paul Morin, an ordinary man, was arrested, imprisoned and convicted of first degree murder. The victim was Christine Jessop, a nine-year-old girl from Ontario, Canada. She was found murdered in a field about fifty kilometres from where she lived. Due to the investigation team’s carelessness and tunnel vision, the systematic failure of the justice system, and the poor handling of evidence by the crown there was not only one, but two victims in this case.
In the case of Tara Brown’s murder, various groups of individuals are affected. As well as maintaining principles of fair punishment and deterrence, the criminal justice system has to consider perceptions of the victim’s family (secondary victim), the community’s demand for crime prevention, and the offender’s rights to a fair court hearing. The most likely outcome is imprisonment for Lionel John Patea due to committing an indictable offence. It is important to note that if this was only a case of domestic abuse without murder, it would utilise more time, effort and expenses to come to a resolution. This is due to the different circumstances and degree of abuse that the judge has to assess.
The death toll among these police brutality victims is extremely alarming. Every year police in the United States kill hundreds of people—461 in 2013, according to incomplete FBI statistics based on self-reporting from local law enforcement agencies, and more than 1,000 in 2014 according to Champion, which combs through media reports. The fatal shooting in August of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer in an interaction that began over jaywalking propelled the issue of police violence and excessive force into the national news cycle. The police response to subsequent protests similarly propelled the issue of militarized police into the national news cycle (Champion,
At the local level, many ways that advocates are determined is based on the jurisdiction because it is common that at the local level that advocacy programs go through the court system. In South Carolina, the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office runs a program for Charleston and Berkley County. This program aims to aid in handling victims and the crimes they have gone through ("Victim & witness programs: Ninth judicial circuit office of the solicitor," n.d.). Whereas the Army dealt with a softer approach in aiding victims, this program’s main objective is to help the victim while going through the criminal justice system in courts. They aim to educate them in the process of court and stand by them to make sure they are treated justly with a familiarity and understanding of their rights ("Victim & witness programs: Ninth judicial circuit office of the solicitor," n.d.).
The theories relate to Carla 's case of victimization would be, lifestyle theory posits that individuals place themselves in harm’s way by their lifestyle choices. Carla put herself in harm’s way by jogging at night by herself. Her may have lived a risking lifestyle she clearly liked smoking weed with her boyfriend. Also Deviant place theory would work to because Carla doesn’t live in bad area. The area’s around Carla’s house was safe but Casey lived in a dilapidated apartment complex that was mostly hidden off the main road, between a bar called Bikers-R-Us and a two-story county office complex used by probation officers and drug rehab counselors.
In particular, greater attention should be paid to victims of violence and their families; providing them with support throughout the investigation and trial process, as well as ensuring that they are compensated when justice is served. Additionally, it is important to ensure that the focus of investigations remains on uncovering the truth of what happened, rather than simply pursuing convictions. Finally, there needs to be more emphasis on developing approaches that are tailored to local contexts and take account of cultural differences; as this will help to ensure that justice is served in a way that is fair and appropriate for all
Every state, district, and territories have a wide spread array of basic rights and protections for victims within their statutory code. These rights greatly influence the method in which victims are treated within
Today, every state has an extensive body of basic rights and protections for victims of crime within its statutory code. Victims’ rights statutes have considerably influenced the method in which victims are treated in the federal, state, and local criminal justice systems. The core right of victims of crime includes: The right to attend criminal justice proceedings; the right to apply for compensation; the right to be heard and participate in criminal justice proceedings; the right to be informed of proceedings and events in the criminal justice process, of legal rights and remedies, and of available services; the right to protection from intimidation and harassment; the right to restitution from the offender; the right to prompt return of personal property seized as evidence; the right to a speedy trial; and the right to enforcement of these rights. (Office of Justice
Victim witness programs are used by the government in order to provide support and assistance to those who fall victim to a crime. According to Victim Witness Program, the primary goals of such programs, include but are not limited to, encouraging victims to participate in any parole and supervised release processes of their offender, notify and facilitate victims in participation of any hearing or release dates in regards to their offender, provide options for supportive services, and advocate for crime victims (2015, para.1). The organization under which the victim-witness program is located is under a system, which has many internal constituencies, thus creating competing and conflicting purposes. The goals of the victim-witness program are quite simple and seek out to give the victim the right to be represented during the processing of the offender, however, given the multiple roles the court, for example, must serve, the goals of the victim-witness program can be both complex and conflicting.
For most people, only the person involved in the encounter are labeled as victims. The pain comes in from the view of one who feels the full effects of the ordeal. However, there is more to the scope of victims than the person directly involved in the crime. Debra narrates how much her family participates in events following up her kidnap and her husband’s murder. Family members would like to see the perpetrator get the death penalty.
This reflection paper will first address the advantages of using retributive justice approach in three court-cases. Second, it will discuss the disadvantages of using retributive justice approaches by analyzing the three court-cases listed above. Third, it will elaborate on ways that the system could have used restorative justice processes in the cases, as well as present potential outcomes that could have been reached if restoration justice was taken into consideration. First, during lecture three, we talked about the notion of just deserts.
There are many indicators of the huge impact in disparities in sentencing women as compared to men and more so when it revolves around minorities ( race and class). Though there are lower crime rates among women as compared to men, there are significant disparities which tend to show favouritism to women. Research has shown that men get 63 per cent longer custodial sentences than women. In addition, it is twice more likely to have women get non custodial sentences even after conviction. However, as mentioned the disparities are more profound when issues of race and class are intertwined in the sentencing.
Criminology Case Study: Meredith Kercher Name Academic Institution Author Note Class Professor Date TABLE OFCONTENTS1 CASE/OFFENDER 3 OFFENSE/CRIME 4 MOTIVATIONS/BACKGROUND 4 THEORY 5 VICTIMS 6 COSTS 7 ADJUDICATION/DISPOSITION (PROSECUTION/SENTENCING) 7 CONCLUSION 8 REFERENCES 10 Criminology Case Study: Meredith Kercher
