Circle Sentencing goes with the theme that "justice should heal, not punish". The offender must plead guilty to the crime and then a group of community members decides the sentence. The offender then applies to a community justice committee and if they are accepted they will meet with the committee to figure out exactly what they must do.
The whole point of this type of sentencing is to try and help the offender so that the problem gets helped and not just punished and so that the community can be involved and have a say in how it all works. The offender gets many chances to talk with the community and the victims about the crime committed and everything that has to do with the crime. The community acts as a support group and continually checks in on the offender to see his/her progress.
Circle Sentencing comes from an old Native American way of communication called "Talking Circles". In these circles there is a feather or some sort of object and only the person with this object can talk. There are absolutely no interruptions and the only comments that can be made are noises that can be made through the nose. In these circles anything can be discussed and everyone gets a chance to talk.
These circles are all about deep intensive listening. Eye contact is not made until the speaker is completely finished and most stare at the ground while talking. It is very emotional and spiritual and everyone is accepting. If done with commitment the circles can be very healing. The Justice Circle is a very good option for Cole. Even though at this point he couldn't care less I think he will end up "finding his soul".
Works Cited:
- Adams, Jim. "Circle of Justice." Twin Cities FreeNet. 18 Aug. 1998. Minneapolis Star Tribune. 28 June 2008
- "Circle Sentencing." ACF Newsource. 31 Dec. 2006. CBS Radio Network. 28 June 2008
- Dr. Loretta Standley. "Native American Talking Circles." Dr. Standley. 2008. 28 June 2008
3 comments:
Your mini report was very informational! I actually learned a lot from reading it. I have read other reports on circle justice and yours had different material in it that wasn't in others. I thought that it was very interesting and you did a good job!
Nice job! I am interested in the concept that anything can be discussed. I didn't realize that, but that would make sense, because then the air really could be cleared.
Laura--be sure that you don't just say that you put material in that was different..tell her what it was.
Good Job!! I also researched Cirlce Justice, but you delved deep into aspects like the 'eye contact' which I did not. I learned some more 'little facts' by reading your post...
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