scholarly journals The Evidentiary Rules of Engagement in the War against Domestic Violence

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin R. Collins

Our criminal justice system promises defendants a fair and just adjudication of guilt, regardless of the character of the alleged offense. Yet, from mandatory arrest to "no-drop" prosecution policies, the system's front-end response to domestic violence reflects the belief that it differs from other crimes in ways that permit or require the adaptation of criminal justice response mechanisms. Although scholars debate whether these differential responses are effective or normatively sound, the scholarship leaves untouched the presumption that, once the adjudicatory phase is underway, the system treats domestic violence offenses like any other crime.This Article reveals that this presumption is false. It demonstrates that many jurisdictions have adopted specialized evidence rules that authorize admission of highly persuasive evidence of guilt in domestic violence prosecutions that would be inadmissible in other criminal cases. These jurisdictions unmoor evidence rules from their justificatory principles to accommodate the same iteration of domestic violence exceptionalism that underlies specialized front-end criminal justice policies. The Article argues that even though such evidentiary manipulation may be effective in securing convictions, enlisting different evidence rules in our war on domestic violence is unfair to defendants charged with such offenses and undermines the integrity of the criminal justice system. It also harms some of the people the system seeks to protect by both reducing the efficacy of the criminal justice intervention and discrediting those complainants who do not support prosecution.

2020 ◽  
Vol 07 (03) ◽  
pp. 400-420
Author(s):  
I Wayan Aryana

The principles of international law mandate diversion as a model for solving juvenile cases. The diversion model as a resolution model in Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand is rooted in the traditional culture and local wisdom of the people. Diversion agreement can take form of restitution. This study discusses three issues: (1) diversion in juvenile criminal justice system, (2) restitution in diversion, and (3) comparison of restitution in the Philippines and Thailand. This study employs normative legal approach, which examines the ambiguity of norms of restitution forms. Currently, restitution is interpreted merely as reimbursement for victim. This study collected primary and secondary legal materials collected through literature study. This study employed statutory, legal concept, and comparative law approaches. The focus was on the Philippines and Thailand contexts. The analysis was conducted qualitatively. Diversion is a specialty in the juvenile criminal justice system in which criminal cases committed by children are resolved by deliberation. The result of the diversion agreement can be in the form of restitution as agreed in the deliberation. The Law Number 11 of 2012 on the Juvenile Criminal Justice System recognizes form of restitution. The form is money. It is different from the Philippines and Thailand that formulating a form of restitution in the form of services provided by the perpetrator and/or his family to the victim and/or his family. This form of restitution is based on social realities in which the economic condition of the perpetrator’s family makes it impossible to pay restitution in the form of money. The restitution of work services can be a material for reformulation in the dimension of ius constituendum in Indonesia.


Author(s):  
Enoch Amoah

This study seeks to ascertain whether there are justifications for implementing Victim Offender Mediation (VOM) – a key Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process capable of solving the shortcomings of the Criminal Justice Systems of Ghana. Doctrinal approach to legal research was deployed using qualitative research method in perusing and analysing provisions of the Courts Act 1993 Alternative Dispute Resolution Act 2010, Children’s Act 1998, Domestic Violence Act 2007 and Juvenile Justice Act 2003. It also analysed literature on the use of ADR processes in criminal matters. It was found that the selected enactments with the exception of Domestic Violence Act 2007 provided justifications for implementing VOM in Ghana. The research also reveals that only offences in the categories of misdemeanor which are not aggravated in degree and offences regarded as minor offences can be referred for settlement by VOM. Further, criminal cases involving matters of public interest and those affecting the environment could not be resolved using VOM. It is recommended that the courts should take advantage of these findings to implement the use of VOM in resolving criminal cases in Ghana; the Judicial service should liaise with experts in VOM to provide training to judges and other stakeholders to enhance their capacities to implement VOM models in Ghana; and there should be sensitization of the public on the mechanics of VOM in resolving criminal cases so that a court will not appear to its audience as compromising the criminal justice system when it refers criminal cases for settlement by VOM.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-21
Author(s):  
Harini Kav

This paper looks at the criminal case of Deborah Peagler and the California habeas law and explores the effectiveness of legislative changes to domestic battery laws as a mechanism for change in the criminal justice system in regards to its treatment of domestic violence survivors accused of committing a crime against their abuser. It focuses on the androcentric and racialized nature of the criminal justice system and argues that while legislative changes brought about by social movements facilitate opportunities for women like Peagler to pursue just outcomes, they do not counter the gender biases prevalent in the justice system and, alone, are insufficient in improving the treatment of domestic violence survivors in the criminal justice system.


1988 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 275-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Wilbanks

California Offender Based Transaction System (O.B.T.S.) data are utilized to examine the processing of all elderly felons ( N = 1,562) compared to felons twenty to fifty-nine ( N = 160,413) to determine if elderly felons “get off easier.” Elderly criminals were treated more harshly at the front end of the criminal justice system (through conviction) and more leniently at sentencing. The apparent leniency at sentencing was not found for all offenses examined and thus the overall pattern of leniency was due to the mix of offenses for which the elderly were convicted. Though age was a better predictor of arrest rates than sex or race, the latter two variables were better predictors of processing by the criminal justice system.


Author(s):  
Robert A. Ferguson

This chapter addresses the question of whether Americans like to punish. The United States clearly punishes more heavily and for longer periods than other countries, with comparable social and political values. One can land in an American prison for life over minor offenses—a punishment not used for serious offenses in Western Europe. The leading comparativist on criminology, James Whitman, argues that a politics of dignity has instilled mercy and mildness in European systems, while leveling impulses, distrust of authority, and too much power in the people is said to have left the United States with a criminal justice system long in degradation and short on mercy.


2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 238
Author(s):  
Rena Yulia

AbstractThe victim of domestic violence had needed of protection concept thatdifferent with another victim of violent crime. Participation of victim haswant to give justice for all. It is, because punishment to offender brings theimpact for victim. Restorative justice is a concept in criminal justice systemwhich is participation victim with it. The present of criminal justice system isthe offender oriented. Victim has not position to considerate offenderpunishment. Only offender can get the right and the victim hopeless. In thedomestic violence, victim and offender have relationship. Because there area family. · So, probability they have some interest in economic and relation.When wife become a victim and husband as offender, his wife hasdependency economic from her husband. It means, if husband get a decisionfrom judge, his wife will be suffer. Domestic violence is different crime. So, itis necessQ/y to made some different concept. In this article, will discussedabout alternative of legal protection for victim of domestic violence incriminal justice system to protect the victim


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-84
Author(s):  
Akalafikta Jaya ◽  
Triono Eddy ◽  
Alpi Sahari

In the past, the punishment of children was the same as the punishment of adults. This causes the psychological condition of children ranging from investigation, investigation and trial to be disturbed because it is often intimidated by law enforcement agencies. Under these conditions, Law No. 11 of 2012 concerning the Juvenile Justice System was born. One of the reforms in the Child Criminal Justice System Law requires the settlement of a child criminal case by diversion. Based on the results of research that the conception of criminal offenses against children in conflict with the law in Indonesia is different from criminal convictions to adults. Children are given the lightest possible punishment and half of the criminal convictions of adult criminal offenses. That criminal liability for children who are ensnared in a criminal case according to the Law on the Criminal Justice System for Children is still carried out but with different legal sanctions from adults. Criminal imprisonment against children is an ultimumremedium effort, meaning that criminal imprisonment against children is the last legal remedy after there are no other legal remedies that benefit the child. That the concept of enforcement of criminal law against children caught in criminal cases through diversion is in fact not all have applied it. Some criminal cases involving children as the culprit, in court proceedings there are still judges who impose prison sentences on children who are dealing with the law.


2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 386-398
Author(s):  
Taufik Mohammad

The method of community organization can be used to implement restorative justice within the community. This study aimed at understanding whether members from seven communities in Malaysia would assume responsibility for restorative justice initiatives, accept various elements of restorative justice, and welcome offenders back into the community. The findings are mixed. Some community members believed that the community setting may offer resources for offender rehabilitation that the criminal justice system does not have; others raised concerns over various limitations such that communities may not be equipped to deal with criminal cases.


Author(s):  
Martin Partington

This chapter focuses on the criminal justice system. It contains summaries of the different social theories that underpin both the criminal justice system and the fundamental principles relating to sentencing policy. The system is examined in three segments: pre-trial stages, trial stage, and post-trial stages. Each is discussed in turn. This chapter emphasizes the holistic approach by looking not only at what happens in courts, but also the police station and in post-trial contexts such as parole and criminal cases review. The place of the victim in the system is also considered. Particular emphasis is placed on how the current system is changing in the quest for improved efficiency.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 500-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Testa ◽  
Brian D. Johnson

The vast majority of criminal cases are disposed of through guilty pleas, yet relatively little empirical research focuses on the factors that are related to whether a defendant pleads guilty or goes to trial. The current work investigates this issue, analyzing three recent years of data from the Maryland Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy. It examines predictors of guilty plea and trial dispositions as well as key differences among different types of guilty pleas. Findings indicate that Black and Latino defendants are substantially less likely to plead guilty, and that these differences are most pronounced for nonnegotiated guilty pleas. Little evidence emerges for gender disparities or for compound disadvantages associated with young, male, minority defendants. Results are discussed as they relate to contemporary theoretical perspectives on racial differences in perceived legitimacy and trust in the criminal justice system.


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