Birds of a Feather: A Response to the McCold Critique of Community Justice

Source: (2004) Contemporary Justice Review 7(1): 59-67.

This essay responds to McCold’s critique of community justice (McCold, 2004, this issue). First, McCold fails to define or portray community justice accurately, especially by failing to acknowledge seminal writings about the concept. His distorted portrait becomes a ‘straw man’ that exaggerates differences between community justice and restorative justice. Second, I identify several ways in which the models are complementary, and identify how community justice may support and enhance restorative practices. Finally, I argue that their commonalities far outweigh differences, and that the proper focus of action should be on both models’ differences with the traditional, retributive court. Author’s abstract.