Source: (2003) Crime Victims Report 7 (November/December): 65-66, 75-79.
Using elements from actual cases, Sharon Davis paints two scenarios of a nonviolent crime, its effects, and response to the crime. In one scenario the victim is largely ignored or even shunted aside in criminal investigation of the incident and prosecution of the perpetrator. In a different scenario the justice system focuses on the victim as central to dealing with the crime and the perpetrator. These scenarios provide the background for Davis’s discussion of how a restorative justice process is used at the Community Justice Center in Burlington, Vermont. To detail this, she surveys restorative justice theory and practice, Vermont’s implementation of restorative justice, the role of victims and police in the restorative process, and the particular functioning of restorative justice panels.
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