Different Approaches to Criminal Justice

Introduction 

Arresting and punishing criminals is an important component of any criminal justice system but its primary purpose is seeking to reduce the frequency, severity, and impact of crime in the community. Criminal justice systems take different approaches towards achieving its purposes based on the different theories of justice (Cole et al., 2018). Some theories hold that seeking a tougher punishment for convicts is the best way to ensure that the purposes are achieved contemporaneously. Others argue that punishment should be sacrificed in the name reconciliation to create a better society, yet others argue that punishment is a legal issue and reconciliation a social issue that must be factored independently. How crime is approached is critical to the society as it is the society itself that funds criminal justice systems and should get value for their money. Value, in this regard, should relate to the extenuation of the crime 

Thesis 

Crime is a serious problem in modern society due to both its legal and social implications hence the need to have an understanding on whether the approach taken by the criminal justice system is mitigating in crime or exacerbating it. 

Research Methods 

The initial research process was to select a relevant and applicable case amongst the ones provided. The selection was based on both a legal and social approach in an effort to find a case that would have major legal ramifications including incarceration and social implication such as the one that comes with the loss of a life. The moment the case of Commonwealth of Virginia v. Charncey Daniels was selected, my search spread out to three basic limbs. The first limb was to find out as much official information about the case as possible through official websites including www.leagle.com and http://www.courts.state.va.us . To achieve this I used the case name “Commonwealth of Virginia v. Charncey Daniels”. Secondly, I researched for any news of the case using the names of the victim and the convict on the Google search engine. Finally, I sought to understand how the criminal systems work by researching using criminal theories from a sociological perspective, on the school library and external search engines such as https://scholar.google.com . Each of the three limbs of research provided the necessary material for the paper with a relative ease. 

Crime Description 

The instant research paper focuses on the crime of murder based on the 2010-2011 case of Commonwealth of Virginia v. Charncey Daniels. As per the facts of the case on the night of December 27 th , 2010, Chancery Daniels a 40-year-old man, requested 20 years old Jabrill Mara to accompany him to a drug deal. Mara would later be found wandering on the highway having been shot four times. He would die two days later on the 29 th December with coroner reports indicating that he died as a direct consequence of the bullet wounds on his head. Investigations were able to connect the bullet wounds to Daniels (Leagle, 2013). Based on the evidence presented, it seems that Daniels shot Mara after a drug deal went sour or because of a related disagreement whose particulars are only well known to the two of them. Subsequently, Daniels was arrested, leading to the murder indictment and eventual conviction. Mara was a 20-year-old high school graduate who had finished high school late having taken time off to take care of his daughter. At the time of his death, Mara’s daughter was 2 years old (Jackman II, 2011). The death of Mara left a great gap in the life of the two-year-old, her mother and the general family of Mara who was well loved. Indeed, the family did hold a vigil after the death of Mara, praying for the arrest of his killer (Jackman, 2011). Eventually, the case led to the conviction of Daniels for murder and his being sentenced to 23 years’ incarceration (Court Of Appeals Of Virginia, 2013). 

Application of Models of Justice to the Crime 

Retributive Justice 

Retributive justice is based on the retributive theory where justice is predicated on meting out the strongest possible punishment to a convict, for the crimes committed. In most cases, the pursuit of punishment in criminal justice systems is compared to the pursuit of rehabilitation. Retributive justice is based on the concept that both crime and criminals are bad (Cole et al., 2018). Stringent action must, therefore, be taken against both crime and criminals because they are both an anathema to the society. Further, the retributive justice theory is premised on the assumption that criminals are incapable of rehabilitation the moment they take the criminal path. The system, therefore, seeks to act as a warning to impending criminals by punishing actual criminals to the extreme. 

To apply the retributive theory to the crime, the criminal justice would be focused purely on establishing either the guilt or innocence of the defendant. Secondary issues such as the state of the defendant's mind when the crime took place would not be considered. Based on the facts of the case, the retributive theory would zero in on the most adverse facts. For a start, Daniels is a drug dealer (Leagle, 2013). Secondly, Daniels sought to introduce a well-liked member of the society and a father to boot into the world of drug dealing. Finally, when Daniels and Mara disagreed, the former shot the latter in the head four times, dragged him out of the car and left him for death. The fact that Mara suffered greatly before he died would also be pertinent. Building on these aspects of the case would lead to the worst available punishment which is either the death sentence or life without the possibility of parole. 

Utilitarian Justice 

The utilitarian justice approach focuses on who a crime and its punishment would give the highest aggregate happiness. There are several elements to the concept of aggregate happiness. First utilitarian justice seeks to bring the highest amount of happiness to the highest number of people (Cole et al., 2018). In the instant case, the majority would refer to the community which had been adversely affected by the murder of Mara who was not only a father but also a well-loved member of the community. Utilitarian justice would also consider the proviso of the unhappiness to the minority as a worthy cost for bringing happiness to the minority. In the instant case, the minority would relate to the defendant and perhaps his family. The utilitarian approach to justice would look at the case from the perspective that pleases the most irrespective of the fact that it might hurt the minority. 

In the instant case, the vigil for Mara was well-attended and reflected a great love for the young father of a two-year-old daughter who sacrificed going to school so that his girlfriend can finish high school. The system would be keen to provide a win for the friends and loved one of Mara, even if it meant cutting a few corners and going the extra mile. A win for the family and friends would mean a conviction and harsh sentence against the perpetrator. Therefore, the criminal justice system would go out of its way to ensure that Daniels is apprehended, indicted, convicted and given the worst possible sentence. If secondary issues such as technicalities and fundamental rights stood in the way of a conviction, then the system would find a way for circumventing them. 

Restorative Justice 

Restorative justice takes a social look at the subject of crime and its punishment and seeks to have the society get through crime to arrive at the best case scenario. Under restorative justice, the system seeks to bring together the two parties to a crime to arrive at a positive settlement mostly from a reconciliatory perspective (Cole et al., 2018). The parties to a crime under this approach goes beyond just a perpetrator and a victim as it extends to their families, their loved ones and even the society at large. In the instant case, the murder of a well-loved member of the society has taken place and the culprit is a well-known member of the same community. From a social perspective, some members of this community will empathize with the victim’s family while another segment will side with the Daniels who is about to spend the rest of his life in jail. The system would seek to have the issue settled in a manner that does not fracture the community by seeking to keep the two sides happy. In a crime as complex as murder, restorative justice is difficult but still possible. In the instant case, restorative justice would seek for a complex plea-deal with the defendant. Under the deal, the defendant would be given a lighter sentence in exchange for an apology to the family of Mara and pecuniary compensation. A fund for the education of Mara’s daughter and reconciliation between the family of Mara and Daniel’s would also be pursued. 

Parallel Justice 

Parallel justice is a relatively new approach to criminal justice and focuses primarily on the victims of crimes with a view to seeking closure and a better future. Under this approach, the victims are considered separately from the crime itself or the perpetrator of the crime. The clarion call for this approach is: "What happened to you is wrong and we will help you rebuild your life." (National Center for Victims of Crimes, 2012). The parallel approach is based on the theory that under contemporary criminal justice systems, too much focus is made on the perpetrator at the expense of the victims of the crime. The approach focuses on putting the lives of the victims together after the crisis caused by the crime. In the instant case, the parallel approach would ignore Daniels and the trial and focus on Mara’s family. Mara had siblings, a mother, a girlfriend and a daughter whom he loved so much (Jackman II, 2011). The approach would help all these parties get past the loss of their loved one. Also, help would be provided to take care of the basic, health, and academic needs of Mara’s daughter. 

Conclusion 

Daniels and Mara, the perpetrator and victim respectively were friends and members of the same community. From a social perspective, they must also have shared friends and their loved ones would know each other. Most importantly, there is a little two-year-old girl whose life will be affected by the outcome of the case. Based on the foregoing, a restorative justice approach would be the most appropriate. Under the approach, the perpetrator would still get punished for the crime yet without tearing the community apart. The healing and restoration involved would also help the family of Mara more than merely seeing Daniels punished would. The eventual punishment for Daniels under this approach might be more lenient than he deserves but the benefits from this approach to the Mara family outweighs this limitation. 

References 

Cole, G. F., Smith, C. E., & DeJong, C. (2018).  The American system of criminal justice . Boston, Massachusetts: Cengage Learning 

Court Of Appeals of Virginia (2013). Charncey Laquinn Daniels v. Commonwealth of Virginia http://www.courts.state.va.us/opinions/opncavwp/2492114.pdf 

  Jackman II, T. (2011, January 05). Victim , 20, known as a devoted dad. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2011/01/04/AR2011010405359.html 

Jackman, T. (2011, March 22). Charncey Daniels indicted in Jabrill Mara slaying near I-66. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/charncey_daniels_indicted_in_jabrill_mara_slaying_near_i_66/2011/03/22/ABs4pqFB_story.html?utm_term=.b289cf7d8058 

Leagle (2013, March 12). Daniels v. Commonwealth | Record No. 2492-11-4. | 20130312d06. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from https://www.leagle.com/decision/invaco20130312d06 

National Center for Victims of Crimes. (2012). Parallel Justice. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from http://victimsofcrime.org/library/publications/other-topics/parallel-justice