Forging links and renewing ties: Applying the principles of restorative and procedural justice to better respond to criminal offenders with a mental disorder.

Source: (2012) Buffalo Law Review. 60(1):147-223.

For almost as long as there has been a criminal justice system, society has struggled with how to respond to offenders with a mental disorder whose criminal behavior has been shaped and driven by their mental disorder. Virtually everyone who works with this population, including criminal justice officials, believes that society‟s current response is woefully inadequate. This Article will propose an alternative approach that can provide a better response for all of the parties affected by these crimes, including the victims of these crimes and the offenders themselves. At the same time, there is a general lack of overarching principles to guide such analyses. Based on a review of the current literature and a growing consensus regarding various points drawn from this literature, this Article begins with an effort to articulate these principles before turning to the proposed model and its foundations… (excerpt)