Models Of Justice In The Jonathan Nathaniel Ramsey Case

Our legal system has progressively become less and less concerned with the victim. Focus has been misplaced on the state and overall victim satisfaction where the outcome is completely ignored, instead of on who is most affected by the crime. Nils Christie has the idea to view “Conflicts as Property” as a factor to investigate the process of the criminal justice system. Christie 's idea is that criminology to some extent has amplified a process where conflicts have been taken away from the parties directly involved and thereby have either disappeared or become other peoples property (christie, pg. 1). In order to explore Christie’s point of view, one must first understand his perspective.

For the Portfolio Project I am choosing Option 2; Refuting that “justice” was achieved. I will draw upon my own concept of justice, the legal concepts of justice, studies, articles and empirical research to allow for my conclusion. Furthermore, I will consider the victims, (plural), and the impact of Richards sentence on his life. The Case of Richard Mijares At the outset of this class we were instructed to watch videos of Richard Mijares, a youthful offender who shot and killed his mother when he was aged seventeen years.

110). According to the author, the aim of restorative justice is to heal communities from an incident where people were harmed and, ideally, help prevent the same thing from happening again. I believe that, there is going to be a higher possibility of crime reduction in schools and in different neighborhood if victims and offenders mediate a restitution agreement to the satisfaction of each other. In conjunction to this, if the government can be more committed in supporting these approaches, I believe that there will be a massive drop in crime

There have been many murders in the United States that have been left unsolved. A case that is still very publicized and very shocking to the nation was that of JonBenet Ramsey, the six-year-old beauty pageant contestant. This seemingly perfect child was kidnapped, murdered and left in her parents’ 15-room house to later be found by her father. This horrific story embellishes that of the complete innocence of the victim and how the media glorified the murder. The Ramsey family was a very wealthy family, which can be attributed to the attractiveness theory outlined in Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology as well as how John, Patsy, and Burke (JonBenet’s nine-year-old brother) were secondary victims in this mournful case.

Davidson (2015), states crimes committed do not always receive the same punishment (p. 1). He states, the death penalty is a state’s way of enforcing power over society and administering the most harsh punishment available (p. 1). The author states, wrongful convictions and executions of innocent people is an example of a justice system that does not work for the good of society (p. 13). He explains the justice system is structured on the ideas of racism and therefore not equal equality to all people (p. 1). He offers a solution to the problem of wrongful convictions and obtaining what he feels is a 100% guarantee that the right person will be punished for the crimes committed.

Within the judicial and criminal justice systems, restorative justice is seen as a forward moving process in regards to the way in which the sentencing of offenders is handled (Britto & Reimund, 2013). Restorative justice works to focus on the needs of both the victim and the offender but incorporates the community as well as those who support both the victim and offender (Britto & Reimund, 2013). The approach of restorative justice in not simply a means by which society responds to and reduces crime but instead, provides an equivalently valuable social response to crime (Dancig-Rosenberg and Galt, 2013). Furthermore, the restorative approach places emphasis on the personal and relational harms which were caused by the crime while creating space for dialogue concerning the actual damage, whether directly or

Introduction Crime, its punishment, and the legislation that decides the way in which they interact has long been a public policy concern that reaches everyone within a given society. It is the function of the judicial system to distribute punishment equitably and following the law. The four traditional goals of punishment, as defined by Connecticut General Assembly (2001), are: “deterrence, incapacitation, retribution, and rehabilitation.” However, how legislature achieves and balances these goals has changed due to the implementation of responses to changing societal influences. Mandatory minimum sentences exemplify this shift.

I will be discussing the key facts and critical issues presented in various roles/goals within the United States (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). The The Various roles/goals of Sentencing within the United States. In a narrative format, discuss the key facts and critical issues presented. The various goals of criminal sentencing today are revenge, retribution, just deserts, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation or reformation, and restoration (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). The first is revenge.

Florida courts are plagued with too many people appointed or elected who are entrusted with the sole responsibilities of doing out justice in their public official capacity, who often times suffer from the common syndrome of lacking the ability to separate the administration of justice from the imbuing of their very own interest and passion. Court Judges, prosecutors, and even law enforcement officers very often cannot resist the urge to impart their very own passions and interest into the administration of justice. Far too often an individual’s social, background, and even financial status plays a significant role into the courts official’s decisions and administration of justice. The decision to impose a stiff penalty as oppose to showing

A comparison between the Due process model and crime control model Within the criminal justice system, there are two competing models: the crime control model and the due process model. These two models were constructed by Robert Packer and each represents a particular school of thought. In managing crime, there is the individual i.e. the suspect and there is the society. The due process model is seen to focus on the suspect whereas the crime control model focuses on the society. This paper analyzes these two models and based on the rate of crime in the society, makes recommendations as to which is the best model in criminal justice.

Today our justice system has a multitude of options when dealing with those who are convicted of offenses. However, many argue that retributive justice is the only real justice there is. This is mainly because its advantage is that it gives criminals the appropriate punishment that they deserve. The goals of this approach are clear and direct. In his book The Little Book of Restorative Justice, Zehr Howard (2002), illustrates that the central focus of retributive justice is offenders getting what they deserve (p. 30).

Restorative Justice processes are likely to reduce criminals from repeating offenses, as numerous recidivism studies have demonstrated. Thus, it would be more than justified to employ restorative processes a response to crimes under

4 Criticism and Challenges The first point of criticism against victim participation in restorative justice processes arises from scepticism about an apology to the victim as a way of dealing with criminal matters. The perception sometimes exists as to it simply being a way to get away with the crime.106 Members of the public should thus be educated to understand that restorative justice is more than a mere saying sorry, but in the context of victim offender mediation or family group conferences it rather affords the victim the opportunity to confront the child offender with the real and human cost of his or her criminal actions. Another concern deals with the possible secondary victimisation of the victim in the case where the offender pretends

Punishment is an infliction of a penalty that resulted from an offence. Punishment is also naturally justified when administered to those who deserve it. Retributivists claim that people who break the law deserve the punishment they get. Retributivism views punishment as a fair judgment and believe that the state should punish those who are found guilty of their wrongdoing because they deserve it. A person deserves the same treatment they inflict on others.

Batley (2005) stated that restorative justice is about restoring, healing and re- integrating victims, offenders, as well as the society and also preventing further harm. In this assignment, I will be discussing approaches to restorative justice and illustrating their advantages and disadvantages to offending. I will also provide the applications of these five approaches of restorative justice which are retributive approach, utilitarian deterrence approach, rehabilitation approach, restitution approach and restorative approach in the given case study. I will then explain my preferred approach to justice through identifying a personal belief or value that underpins my choice.