Conceptualising the Victim in England and Wales and the United States within a Spectrum of Public and Private Interests

Author(s):  
Marie Manikis

Abstract The conception of the victim in criminal justice systems has changed across history and legal systems. A framework that considers the private and public along a spectrum and offers nuances between private and public interests illuminates the ways victims have been conceived within mechanisms of participation in various criminal justice systems and the ways they can oscillate and have oscillated within these categories. This article argues that in England and Wales, victims have been conceived as citizens with both private and predominantly public roles and interests, while in the United States, they have been conceptualised as actors that hold predominantly private interests. Nuances within mechanisms of victim participation that challenge the rigidity of the public/private divide within those jurisdictions are accounted for and discussed.

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Douglas A. Berman

The remarkable events of 2020 have disrupted and altered all sorts of plans, and this issue of FSR covers some of the many varied criminal justice and sentencing echoes of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and urgent new calls for racial justice. The intense and dynamic topics that have come to define 2020 in the United States necessarily impact, and may even consume our thinking, about modern criminal justice systems generally and federal sentencing realities in particular. Included in this FSR issue are reports and data and commentary that predate spring shutdowns and summer protests and related developments; but these materials now carry distinctive meaning and even a new urgency in light of 2020 challenges. It is impossible to fully assess in short order the impact of massive societal changes on the federal sentencing system, but we are hopeful this FSR issue can provided added perspective to a rapidly changing world that still often seems hard to fully grasp.


2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-65
Author(s):  
Alexandra Shookhoff ◽  
Robert Constantino ◽  
Evan Elkin

Increases in both the number and amount of court fees, fines, and surcharges—regardless of offenders' ability to pay—have become standard practice in courthouses throughout the United States. A recent report from the Brennan Center for Justice, as well as several others, have shown that imposing criminal justice debt can interfere with reentry and rehabilitation. In response to this identified problem, the Vera Institute of Justice is exploring a potential demonstration project that would help jurisdictions generate revenue and hold offenders accountable for their crimes without the unintended negative justice outcomes. The Fines and Fees Initiative seeks to ameliorate the negative consequences that criminal justice debt may have on individuals, communities, and criminal justice systems.


2006 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-31
Author(s):  
Traci Hobson

In the United States, much of the litigation arising involving Indian tribes and territories revolves around one issue: jurisdiction. Because of the complex inter-weaving of tribal, federal, and state (including county governments and municipalities) jurisdiction in United States Indian country, it can be difficult to determine which entity or entities have the authority to adjudicate a particular case or controversy. Indeed, even the term Indian Country, as used here, has been subject to much dispute. In the criminal arena, the intersection of tribal, state and federal jurisdiction is particularly problematic. For our nation's co-existing criminal justice systems to operate as efficiently as possible, it is imperative that all individuals working in or with criminal justice systems in Indian country have an understanding of the jurisdictional rules that apply to criminal offenses occurring in United States Indian country. The purpose of this article is to provide a framework for determining which governmental authority has jurisdiction over a specific crime committed in Indian country as a guide for anthropologists and practitioners working with Native Americans.


1977 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene Doleschal

This paper discusses the rate and length of imprisonment in The Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden, which have possibly the most advanced and most humane criminal justice systems in the world. Sen tencing policy and practice in these countries produce commitment figures which carry a message for the United States: increasing the harshness of criminal penalties and the size of the prison population is an irrational— and certainly ineffective—response to crime.


Author(s):  
Ki-Hwan G. Bae ◽  
Gerald W. Evans

This chapter will provide, first, some basic information about criminal justice systems in the United States, including definitions, costs, and the need to view such systems from a systems perspective. Following this introduction, a review of the research involving the intersection of (1) analytical methodologies including simulation and (2) the design and operation of criminal justice systems will be given. The review will cover the areas of (1) prediction of crime, criminal detection, and arrest; (2) adjudication; (3) incarceration and rehabilitation; and (4) multi-aspects of criminal justice systems. The chapter will close out with sections on suggestions for future research and conclusions.


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