Punishment: Civil Style — A Comment

1991 ◽  
Vol 25 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 779-791
Author(s):  
Stephen Goldstein
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Good Friend ◽  
Complete Agreement ◽  
Punitive Damages ◽  
Civil Justice ◽  
Social Betterment ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Definition Of

I am honoured and pleased to comment on the paper on “Punishment Civil Style” by my good friend Marc Galanter, with whose basic thesis I am in complete agreement. I would take as my starting point and, indeed, emphasize, Galanter's definition of punishment as the “imposition of a harm, injury, deprivation or other bad thing on someone on the ground of some commission of some offence. The infliction of harm on the offender may be viewed as a goal (or a proximate to a goal of justice) or it may be viewed instrumentally as a mean to social betterment through rehabilitation, incapacitation, deterrence, reassurance, and so forth”.Galanter well points out that, as such, punishment is not limited to the criminal justice system, but is employed also in other societal systems, including that of civil justice.Yet, I fear that he may mislead us in focusing in his paper so heavily on punitive damages, which he maintains “are the most visible and clearly legitimated manifestation” of the principle of “civil punishment”.

scholarly journals (DE)CONSTRUCTING THE “PERFECT RAPE VICTIM”: AN ANALYSIS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND SURVIVOR DISCOURSES IN THE CANADIAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanshika Dhawan ◽  
Marty Fink
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Rape Myths ◽  
Attrition Rates ◽  
Sexual Assault Survivors ◽  
Spousal Rape ◽  
Definition Of

The Canadian criminal justice system has seen many progressive changes to the way sexual assault cases are investigated and prosecuted over the past several decades. From the acknowledgement of spousal rape to the introduction of rape shield provisions, the law has seemingly changed to broaden the definition of what is considered a sexual assault. However, sexually-based offences are still vastly underreported and have the lowest attrition rates of indictable offences. Larger societal discourses around sexual assault and survivor-hood consist largely of rape myths, such as the idea that “real rape” only occurs when an “undeserving” woman is sexually assaulted by a “stranger in the dark.” These discourses permeate the Canadian criminal justice system, negatively influencing the experience of survivors who do not fit the narrow mould “real rape.” Drawing from Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis and Stuart Hall’s Discursive Approach, this Major Research Paper traces the effects of these discourses on constructions of sexual assault and survivor-hood in the legal system. Through a theoretical analysis of existing literature on the experiences of sexual assault survivors, this paper also examines the ways in which the language we use to describe sexual assault serves to cement rape myths and invalidate survivor experiences in every stage of the Canadian criminal justice system.

Impediments to the Recovery of Restitution by Crime Victims

1990 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan T. Harland ◽  
Cathryn J. Rosen
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Crime Victims ◽  
Actual Case ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Technical Data ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Case Dispositions

Restitution is unique among criminal justice policies by virtue of the widespread support it has attained from many diverse constituencies. Restitution has received such universal praise as a panacea for victims of crime that in recent years a number of American jurisdictions have adopted legislation that creates a presumptive norm that restitution be awarded in appropriate cases. Despite popular support for its increased use and enactment of enabling legislation, restitution continues to be underutilized in actual case dispositions. The authors suggest that the underuse problem will not be cured and the powerful potential that restitution holds as a criminal justice sanction will not be realized until a consensus regarding the definition of restitution is achieved, significant gaps in the technical data about how restitution is effectuated are closed, and practical impediments to awarding and collecting restitution are dissolved. These goals, in turn, cannot be met until policy makers confront and begin to resolve the inherent conflicts posed when a restorative sanction, such as restitution, is pursued in a criminal justice system that is primarily punitive in nature.

Forcible Rape

1977 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald D. Robin
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Reasonable Doubt ◽  
Rape Victims ◽  
Basic Definition ◽  
Standard Of Proof ◽  
Legal Position ◽  
Definition Of

Forcible rape is unique among crimes in the manner in which its victims are dealt with by the criminal justice system. Raped women are subjected to an institutionalized sexism that begins with their treatment by the police, continues through a male-dominated criminal justice system influenced by pseudo-scientific notions of victim precipitation, and ends with the systematic acquittal of many de facto guilty rapists. The codification of sexism centers in the legal elements involved in proving guilt and obtaining convictions. In effect, the law's focus upon corrob oration, consent, and character has established a standard of proof in rape cases that is more stringent than "beyond a reasonable doubt." Nonetheless, the processing of rape victims by the criminal justice system is gradually becoming more sensitive, facilitative, and reflective of the trauma experienced by the women involved. The legal position toward the crime is also becoming less sexist and more responsive to the realities involved in sexual assault. Both of these changes have come about through the efforts of the women's liberation movement. The most promising means for achieving more humane and dignified treatment of rape victims in the arms of the law have been "rape crisis centers." This approach to eliminating institutionalized sexism surrounding forcible rape has been significantly aided and abetted by successful attempts to modify the basic definition of the crime and to revise the legal elements needed for conviction.

scholarly journals Victims of crime

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khắc Hải Nguyễn
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Routine Activity ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Fair Treatment ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Core Issues

Research clarifies basic issues related to victims of crime as a social and legal phenomenon. Study gives definition of victims of crime, analyses victimization and its causes developed rely on theories as lifestyle model, routine activity approach and opportunity. Besides, the article studies international standard and the rights of victims like access to justice and fair treatment, restitution, compensation, and assistance. The role of victims of crime in criminal justice system and government’s responsibility are also core issues mentioned in the research. 

English Legal System Concentrate

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Thomas ◽  
Claire McGourlay
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Civil Justice ◽  
Essential Information ◽  
Domestic Legislation ◽  
Civil Justice System

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. English Legal Systems Concentrate starts with an introduction to the English legal system (ELS). It then looks at sources of law: domestic legislation, case law, and the effect of EU and international law. The text also examines the court structure. It then looks at personnel of the ELS. It moves on to consider the criminal justice system and the civil justice system. After that, it looks at funding access to the ELS. Finally, it looks to the future of the ELS.

Male Domestic Abuse: The Continuing Contrast Between Women's Experiences and Juridical Responses

1995 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosanna Langer
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Domestic Abuse ◽  
Reform Initiatives ◽  
Institutional Responses ◽  
Women’S Perceptions ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Perceptions Of Abuse ◽  
Systemic Responses

AbstractWomen's perceptions of abuse differ deeply from official characterizations of them and are largely absent from legal discourse on male domestic abuse despite two decades of reform initiatives. This article traces the enforcement of male domestic dominance and violence through the failures of the criminal justice system to incorporate women's perspectives in systemic responses to male spouse batterers. I argue that it is factors such as official labelling of abuse by the juridical system, including police, which determine whether abuse is ‘officially’ recognized as such and whether the male violent family is stabilized by policies, practices, and non-intervention. This interaction between definitions and institutional responses makes it crucial to understand how women define their own experiences of abuse. The article concludes that male domestic abuse remains a contested area of juridical understandings and practices. Insofar as the ‘official’ definition of her situation impacts on the abused woman's self-perception, and on her access to resources she might use to get out of danger, it determines the organization of ‘domestic abuse’ as well.

Punishment: Civil Style

1991 ◽  
Vol 25 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 759-778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Galanter
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
Social Institution ◽  
Social Betterment ◽  
Core Idea ◽  
As If

Discussions of punishment and its role in modern societies often proceed as if punishment is co-extensive with the criminal justice system. Instead, I want to begin with the observation that a large part of punishment as a social institution is outside the criminal law — indeed much of it lies outside the legal system. To understand the working of punishment in our societies and what the law can do with it and about it requires that we examine the entire span of punishment, not just that part which epitomizes it in legal theory.What is punishment? I hesitate to get into a definitional struggle on what must be well-worn turf. It seems to me that we can identify a core idea of “bad for bad” — i.e., the imposition of a harm, injury, deprivation or other bad thing on someone on the ground of the commission of some offence. The infliction of harm on the offender may be viewed as a goal (or as proximate to a goal of justice) or it may be viewed instrumentally as a means to social betterment, through rehabilitation, incapacitation, deterrence, reassurance, and so forth. Thus, the harm may be thought to redound to the offender's ultimate benefit or that of the society.

Mental Health Professionals and the Criminal Justice System

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reena Kapoor ◽  
Alec Buchanan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Competence To Stand Trial ◽  
Jail Diversion ◽  
System P ◽  
Definition Of

This chapter provides guidance for mental health clinicians whose patients are involved in the criminal justice system. It describes the typical course for a person with mental illness as he or she progresses through the criminal justice system, with a focus on the various types of psychiatric evaluations that are performed. It discusses the legal basis and essential elements of competence to stand trial evaluations, the legal definition of insanity, jail diversion programs, and presentencing evaluations. The differences between treating clinicians and forensic evaluators in the criminal justice system are explained. Finally, it offers guiding principles and tips for avoiding common pitfalls.

scholarly journals Changing Political Opportunity: The Anti-Rape Movement and Public Policy

1998 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet C. Gornick ◽  
David S. Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Social Responses ◽  
The Social ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Definition Of

Both the legal definition of rape and the social responses to it have changed dramatically over the last twenty-five years. The sorts of assaults classified as criminal, the willingness of women who have been raped to turn to the criminal justice system, the rules of prosecution, and the penalties imposed on those found guilty have all been the explicit subjects of public debates initiated in the early 1970s by activists who broke the silence of earlier decades. Activists' engagement with the policy process throughout the 1970s altered institutions and policy at the local, state, and federal levels, and also affected the development and claims of the broader women's movement.

Forcible Rape and the Criminal Justice System

1976 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan Chappell
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Rape Victims ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
State Statutes ◽  
Salient Points ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Official Crime

Forcible rape, a crime which the criminal justice system has historically been inept at handling, has finally achieved in the past decade the recognition it deserves as a societal and crim inological problem warranting serious attention. Its cogency to a variety of current social issues—the position of women in a traditionally male-dominated society, interracial conflict, the inconsistent and discriminating imposition of the death penalty—has put rape in the spotlight of public and official concern. This article singles out a number of salient points of con cern in the control and reduction of rape and describes some efforts that have been or are being made to bring about a reversal in the upward trend o f rape rates. A current, comprehensive, nation-wide research project on forcible rape is described, with a summary of how the results of the project are expected to be utilized by criminal justice agencies and by other organizations dealing with rape. Other points of concern discussed in this paper are the legal and moral issues revolving around the lack of consensus in the definition of rape, not only as specified in state statutes but also as viewed by law enforcement agencies. Conceptual differences in the definition of rape lead to inequitable and inconsistent handling of rape by the criminal justice system in addition to seriously impugning the validity, and hence usefulness, of official crime statistics. Finally, changes in the treatment of rape victims, with the concomitant benefits to them and to the criminal justice agencies responsible for controlling and prosecuting rape, are discussed.

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