Models Of Justice In The Jonathan Nathaniel Ramsey Case

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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).

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.

The main components that make up our Criminal Justice system are the agencies of law enforcement, judicial court system, and corrections. These three component entities function separately but each work together with each other to achieve the purposes of maintaining law and order, and the public safety of their respective communities that each serves in administering justice. Each of the aforementioned three components generally encompasses a point of view defined as the consensus model (Schmalleger, 2016). The consensus model is a perspective in the criminal justice field which assumes that each of the system’s components press towards a overall achievement and the movement of incidents (cases) and individuals through the process runs smoothly

For centuries, the criminal justice system has continually evolved and adapted to society where its sole purpose has been to punish those that break the laws deemed to be uncivilized. By punishing criminals, it attempts to maintain peace and order in society so that chaos and anarchy does not run amok. The criminal justice system we have today is divided into three sections, each with different responsibilities to uphold. The police are in charge of investigating and capturing criminals, the courts are in charge with the decision of whether or not a crime has been committed and if the person should be charged, and the corrections system is responsible for making sure the punishment given by the court is carried out (Mallicoat 2017:4). By examining the two contrasting ideologies of the criminal justice system, crime control and due process, we can see that our criminal justice system is flawed in maintaining public order and protecting our rights.

Explained below are two of the most enduring models which offer explanations as to how agencies and policies may be shaped and they can usefully be viewed as opposite ends of a continuum since they present contrasting rationale and characteristics - the Crime Control and DueProcess models.(Packer, 1964) Crime control and due process models not only exist within certain periods of history, but they can also exist by actual practice in a criminal courtroom, through the philosophical approach based on the type of case. Before beginning assessment of the criminal justice system, it is important to comprehend how overall cases are completed through the criminal justice process of arrest, probable cause, arraignment, trial, and

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.