 |
An ad hoc committee has begun organizing a workshop series on Justice and the Church. It will be an opportunity for all of us to learn more about the justice system in this country and to examine different theories and approaches to administering justice. We will be exploring the relative merits of three types of justice:
- Retributive
- Restorative, and
- Parallel.
WUC member Susan Russell, with a Master of Arts in MA in Public Policy, is well versed on this subject. The focus of her studies was Criminal Justice Policies and her Master's thesis was entitled "Restorative Justice, An Innovative Criminal Justice Idea" (2000).
Susan has written and published two articles in our December and January newsletters, entitled A Brief Introduction to Restorative Justice, and Justice and the Church Parallel Justice. You can find these articles here.
Parallel justice is a relatively new concept envisioned by Susan Herman, former Executive Director for the National Center for Victims of Crime. Parallel Justice is a framework for responding to crime with two separate parallel paths to justice-one for victims and one for offenders.
The Parallel Justice framework involves both a governmental and a community response. Parallel justice is needed for a variety of reasons:
- Many victims are not involved in the criminal justice system because their offender is not arrested
- Many crime victims never step foot inside a courtroom
- Our current criminal justice system is offender-oriented, with minimal interest or sensitivity to victims' needs and rights.
Parallel justice can offer much more than the criminal justice system can provide. It is a victim-centered process. It involves offenders, communities, and society at large in helping victims rebuild their lives and reintegrate into a productive community life.
The following are some of the guiding principles for implementing parallel justice:
- First, when a crime is reported, in addition to our traditional criminal justice response, the safety of the victim would be a high priority for police and other criminal justice agencies.
- Second, every victim of crime would be offered immediate support, compensation for their losses, and practical assistance.
- Third, victims would have an opportunity to explain what happened to them, what the impact on their lives was, and what resources they might need to get their lives back on track.
This opportunity would be provided through forums which would be conducted by an administrator whose job it would be to acknowledge the harm done and to develop appropriate service plans that would marshal government responses to meet victims' needs. Victim services and long-term assistance would then be coordinated by case managers.
Using this concept and guiding principles the National Center for Victims of Crime established The Parallel Justice Project. The National Center has been working with three communities throughout the nation to test the feasibility of the Parallel Justice concept as a new paradigm. Burlington, Vermont is one of them. The Parallel Justice Project is overseen by the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services, an independent state agency responsible for overseeing victim assistance and compensation funding. The Burlington Parallel Justice Project has had active support from the Burlington Police Department, Burlington Community Justice Center, and various local social service agencies.
Excerpts for this article and more information regarding Parallel Justice can be found at the National Center For Victims of Crime, at:
http://www.ncvc.org/ncvc/main.aspx?dbID=dash_Home
We will be examining Justice concepts and programs such as restorative and parallel justice in March during our Justice and the Church workshop series. Stay tuned for more information regarding these workshops.
This program is offered for all who seek to learn about this new paradigm.
The Warren United Church
United Church of Christ
Main Street
PO Box 114
Warren Village, Vermont 05674
802.496.2713
disclaimer
|
|
