scholarly journals The costs of Indigenous and non-Indigenous offender trajectories

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Troy Allard ◽  
Molly McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Cost Drivers ◽  
Unit Costs ◽  
Chronic Offenders ◽  
Trajectory Models

Reducing Indigenous overrepresentation in the criminal justice system is justified on both social justice and economic grounds. We developed an innovative costing framework and estimated direct criminal justice system unit costs based on critical cost drivers. These estimates were applied to offender trajectories, modelling offences of all individuals registered as being born in Queensland during 1983–1984 (from ages 10 to 31). Separate trajectory models were developed for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Queenslanders in the birth cohort to enable separate cost estimations for these groups. Findings identified over one-half (53%) of the identified Indigenous cohort and 16 percent of the non-Indigenous cohort had moderate to chronic offender trajectories. Because of the high levels of recontact and sanction seriousness and length, Indigenous offenders were on average more costly. These findings emphasise the high cost of current criminal justice system responses to Indigenous and chronic offenders in particular and the need to consider innovative and more cost-effective approaches to reduce offending by individuals in these groups.

Justice versus Social Justice in South Africa: Quo vadis?

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marelize Isabel Schoeman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Historical Discourse ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Underlying Basis ◽  
Quo Vadis

This article explores the concept of criminal justice as a formal process in which parties are judged and often adjudged from the paradigmatic perspective of legal guilt versus legal innocence. While this function of a criminal-justice system is important – and indeed necessary – in any ordered society, a society in transition such as South Africa must question the underlying basis of justice. This self-reflection must include an overview questioning whether the criminal-justice system and its rules are serving the community as originally intended or have become a self-serving function of state in which the final pursuit is outcome-driven as opposed to process-driven. The process of reflection must invariably find its genesis in the question: ‘What is justice?’ While this rhetorical phraseology has become trite through overuse, the author submits that the question remains of prime importance when considered contemporarily but viewed through the lens of historical discourse in African philosophy. In essence, the question remains unanswered. Momentum is added to this debate by the recent movement towards a more human rights and restorative approach to justice as well as the increased recognition of traditional legal approaches to criminal justice. This discussion is wide and in order to delimit its scope the author relies on a Socratically influenced method of knowledge-mining to determine the philosophical principles underpinning the justice versus social justice discourse. It is proposed that lessons learned from African philosophies about justice and social justice can be integrated into modern-day justice systems and contribute to an ordered yet socially oriented approach to justice itself.

Seeking Racial Justice Through Data in 2021 and Beyond

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 269-271
Author(s):  
Melba V. Pearson
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Community Safety ◽  
Common Language ◽  
Health And Wellness ◽  
Racial Justice

In the wake of the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial, many people are posing the question as to what is next for racial and social justice. As the power of the prosecutor has been on display in recent months, what can be done to make sure that accountability is spread evenly among all races in the criminal justice system? For decades, the metric of a prosecutor’s success revolved around conviction rates. As thinking has evolved around the country, success now includes areas such as community safety, health, and wellness – which requires a new way to measure the work being done. Data provides this information. Data will play a critical role in ensuring transparency, changing policy, and making sure that justice is dispensed equally. Data creates a common language, as well as evidence regarding what is working effectively, and what is not. We cannot fix what we do not measure.

scholarly journals Diversion, Rights and Social Justice

Youth Justice ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 147322542090284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Smith
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Young People ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
The Other ◽  
Delinquent Behaviour ◽  
Justice Model ◽  
The One

This article draws on historical understandings and contemporary models of diversion in order to develop a critical framework and agenda for progressive practice. The argument essentially revolves around the contention that typically diversionary interventions have been constrained by the contextual and ideological frames within which they operate. They have in some cases been highly successful in reducing the numbers of young people being drawn into the formal criminal justice system; however, this has largely been achieved pragmatically, by way of an accommodation with the prevailing logic of penal practices. Young people have been diverted at least partly because they have been ascribed a lesser level of responsibility for their actions, whether by virtue of age or other factors to which their delinquent behaviour is attributed. This ultimately sets limits to diversion, on the one hand, and also offers additional legitimacy to the further criminalisation of those who are not successfully ‘diverted’, on the other. By contrast, the article concludes that a ‘social justice’ model of diversion must ground its arguments in principles of children’s rights and the values of inclusion and anti-oppressive practice.

Deferring felony prosecution: a process evaluation of an innovative Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office program

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 261-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Cossyleon ◽  
John Orwat ◽  
Christine George ◽  
Don Stemen ◽  
Whitney Key
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Cook County ◽  
Criminal Prosecution ◽  
Felony Conviction ◽  
Content Type ◽  
First Time

Purpose The Cook County State Attorneys’ Deferred Prosecution Program (DPP) is a pre-trial diversionary program that accepts first-time, non-violent defendants charged with a felony crime. The purpose of this paper is to document the development, implementation, and program patterns of the DPP to better understand the program’s scope and reach in diverting defendants from traditional criminal prosecution. Design/methodology/approach The approach to evaluating Cook County’s DPP is primarily qualitative. Through interviews with program administrators and current and former participants, the authors document the process of creating and implementing such DPP that aims to avoid a felony conviction altogether. The authors provide program participant patterns to shed light on the program’s scope and reach in diverting defendants from traditional felony prosecution. Findings Using data from staff, administrators, and program participants, the authors found that the DPP was developed and implemented through supportive leadership who instilled a culture of collaboration and buy-in. Expanding the program could include increasing the capacity of DPP to include additional participants or having a DPP incorporated into each branch court, instead of the centralized system under which it currently operates. Increasing the capacity and scope of the program could both further decrease criminal court caseloads and most importantly avoid a higher number of stigmatizing felony convictions for first-time non-violent defendants. Practical implications DPPs are cost effective and can be easily implemented within existing systems. Collaboration and buy-in from all stakeholders are crucial to the program’s success. DPP offers opportunities for expansion. Increasing the capacity and scope of the program could both further decrease criminal court caseloads and most importantly avoid a higher number of stigmatizing felony convictions for first-time non-violent felony defendants. Originality/value The main goals of DPP were two-fold. The first was to minimize the level of resources allocated for non-violent offenders in the criminal justice system by diverting such defendants out of the criminal justice system early in the process and reducing the recidivism rates of program participants. The second aimed to provide an option for eligible defendants to avoid a felony conviction, thereby avoiding the collateral consequences associating with a felony conviction.

Restoration of Social Justice and Imposition of Proportionate Punishment in the Context of the Principle Non Bis In Idem

10.12737/7595 ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Сергей Андрусенко ◽  
Sergey Andrusenko
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
System Study ◽  
Criminal Punishment ◽  
Criminal Procedure Law

The article discusses current issues in the restoration of victim rights by applying one of the fundamental principles of criminal law: the reestablishment of social justice and the commensurability/proportionality of the criminal justice system. Study the problems in the theory of criminal punishment that justify the possibility of increasing the punishment after conviction. The author also analyzes some of the positions of modern medicine which is based on the ability to change the verdict and appointment of new criminal penalties. Insufficient developed changes that were made to the criminal procedure law, can create problems of law enforcement practices that lead to a substantial violation of the rights of victims. The article also examines conflict general principles of criminal law, namely, the restoration of social justice and proportionality of criminal punishment and principle non bis in idem. The author points out significant challenges that may arise in law enforcement and offers solutions.

scholarly journals RECHTERLIJK PARDON DALAM KEBIJAKAN DAN PENERAPAN PIDANA INDONESIA

PRANATA HUKUM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-142
Author(s):  
Annisa Dian Permata Herista ◽  
Aristo Evandy A. Barlian
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
Penal Code ◽  
Law System ◽  
Current Formulation ◽  
To Come

Penal code in the formulation of criminal law is currently only fixated on the provisions of criminal acts and crimes without including the goals and principles of punishment. Therefore, criminal law is currently considered rigid and inhumane in its application in small cases that are deemed to require social justice. Formulations which do not have objectives and principles in criminal guidelines will not produce effective law, now there is an idea that is Rechterlijk Pardon as one of the concepts in criminal reform that has been used by various countries implementing civil law systems. The results of the analysis in this study found 6 (six) articles relating to the value of forgiveness in the current formulation of the Kuhp but not the pure forgiveness value and the discovery of 5 (five) criminal justice applications that already have forgiveness values but still cannot be applied properly because they are not properly applied the existence of forgiveness formulations in the current criminal. The formulation of the judge's forgiveness idea "Rechterlijk Pardon" will make the criminal law system in Indonesia to come to be more integral, flexible, humanist, progress and nationalist. The criminal justice system desperately needs significant reforms such as the inclusion of criminal law goals and principles so that an effective criminal justice system in Indonesia is realized.

scholarly journals Social justice, history, and inequity in Cleveland: An overview

2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 105
Author(s):  
Amy Wainwright ◽  
Michelle Millet
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Food Deserts ◽  
Short Version ◽  
Rust Belt ◽  
True Crime

When we first volunteered to be on the Local Arrangements Committee for the ACRL 2019 conference, and to write this specific piece for our colleagues who were coming to our city, neither of us had a clue that the entire third season of the true crime podcast Serial1 would focus on the criminal justice system of Cuyahoga County. But since it was so popular, we considered it a good framing device for a discussion about social justice in Cleveland.If you haven’t listened to Serial, the short version is Cleveland and Cuyahoga County’s criminal and juvenile justice system are shining examples of the inequity that exists in the region. Poverty, segregation, violence, food deserts, crime, and an unfair justice system are all parts of the larger system that remains unjust and unequal in the heart of a Rust Belt city desperate to rise again.

Criminal justice system interactions among young adults with and without autism: A national birth cohort study in New Zealand

Autism ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 136236132110655
Author(s):  
Nicholas Bowden ◽  
Barry Milne ◽  
Richard Audas ◽  
Betony Clasby ◽  
Joanne Dacombe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Young People ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Criminal Behaviour ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
System Data

While sensationalist headlines and highly publicised criminal cases have led many to believe there is a link between autism and criminal behaviour, extant literature presents an unresolved debate. We sought to address this issue by examining the prevalence of criminal justice system interactions among young adults with and without autism, and by assessing whether offence types differ between these groups. This was a national birth cohort study using linked health and criminal justice system data. Cox proportional hazard models were employed to compare criminal justice system interactions between young adults with and without autism, controlling for important socio-demographic characteristics. Data were acquired for 1197 people with autism and 147,879 without autism. Young adults with autism had significantly lower rates of being proceeded against by police, charged in court, and convicted in court compared to those without autism. However, those charged with an offence were significantly more likely to be charged with serious and violent offences, offences against the person and against property. Our findings indicate that, although young people with autism were not over-represented in the criminal justice system, disparities in offence types and incarceration rates among those charged with an offence suggest the importance of identification and appropriate response to autism within the criminal justice system. Lay abstract Sensationalist headlines and highly publicised criminal cases lead many in the public to believe that people with autism are more likely to engage in criminal behaviour. However, recent studies present an unresolved debate, and indicate this may not necessarily be the case. The aims of this study were to examine the prevalence of criminal justice system interactions among young adults with and without autism, and determine whether offence types differ between these groups. We tracked a national birth cohort until their 25th birthday, detecting criminal justice system interactions from age 17 onwards. Linked health and criminal justice system data were used to identify those with autism and detect interactions with the criminal justice system. We found that young people with autism interacted with the criminal justice system at lower rates compared to those without autism. However, there were considerable differences in the types of offences these young people were charged with. For example, among those charged with an offence, people with autism were more likely to be charged with a serious offence, punishable by 2 or more years in prison. We conclude that although young people with autism are not over-represented in the criminal justice system, disparities in offence types and incarceration rates among those charged with an offence suggest the importance of identification and appropriate response to autism within the criminal justice system.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document