NCJ Number
126462
Date Published
1990
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This paper profiles a criminal justice system that would comply with Plato's concept that justice requires doing no harm.
Abstract
Such a remedy for crime must be based on the following six principles: compensation is the only way to mitigate harm; compensation must not injure either the victim or the offender; compensation will always be incomplete, since some harm is irredeemable; punishment violates Plato's principle of doing no harm; the absence of compensation and the presence of punishment make both the victim and the perpetrator less just; and the objective to make people just does not permit punishment and requires compensation. Under a criminal justice system based on these principles, offenders would pay compensation to victims, and offenders would compensate themselves by changing their future behavior so as to comply with the principle of doing no harm. The offender would compensate the victim through some procedure that balances real costs and subjective costs. Offenders would compensate themselves by designing and conducting specific programs that encourage assuming responsibility for the act and achieving rehabilitation. The victim can compensate the offender by permitting and helping to create a useful restitution program. Victims can compensate themselves by pursuing programs designed for their own psychological and physical healing. Punishment is irrational, in that it victimizes or injures offenders because they have done the same to others. 2 references