CRIMINAL AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

Restorative justice and the criminal justice system

Restorative justice and the criminal justice system

Criminal Justice

The various elements involved in criminal justice began to operate as an integrated system by the late 19th century. Police departments acted as investigators on behalf of municipal governments. District attorneys or public prosecutors—lawyers employed by local or state government to pursue cases—became common after 1870. Defense attorneys also became players in the system, although they appeared mainly on behalf of clients who could pay them; courts hired attorneys for the poor only if they faced serious charges, and public defenders were rare. Turnof-the century courts in the locality that has been studied most closely—Alameda County, California—developed a pyramid structure. The courts at the base of the pyramid—variously called police courts, justice courts, or magistrate's courts—conducted initial hearings on felony charges and managed most misdemeanor cases entirely.

Traditional criminal justice represents crime as a violation of the laws of the state. Criminal accusations are claims made by the state (through its prosecutors) that the criminal is guilty of a violation of the law, and thus is subject to penalties imposed by the state. Restorative justice sees crimes as problems or conflicts between people, one of whom is a wrongdoer and the other a victim.

Traditional criminal justice resolves criminal accusation through a trial, in which carefully restrictive rules of evidence and testimony are used to structure a serial interrogation that results in a verdict of guilt or innocence. In practice, trials are rare in most jurisdictions, and instead, a series of inducements is offered to the defendant to waive the right to an evidentiary trial by pleading guilty and accepting the state's right to impose a punishment.

Restorative Justice

Restorative justice is based on the view that crime is more than simply a violation of the law—an offense ...