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Prosecuting for Safety's Sake (From Morality and the Law, P 65-78, 2001, Roslyn Muraskin and Matthew Muraskin, eds. -- See NCJ-193090)

NCJ Number
193095
Author(s)
Hal Pepinsky
Date Published
2001
Length
14 pages
Annotation
In focusing on how a prosecutor's ethical performance of his/her duties can make a community safer ("peacemaking"), this chapter not only discusses how prosecutors can best serve victims but also how they can best contribute to the achievement of offender rehabilitation, which also makes a community safer.
Abstract
The prosecutor cannot know better than victims and offenders what is best for them. The prosecutor can help victims and offenders alike to assume more open, honest, safe, and respectful lives among those with whom they will continue to live. It is only by helping victims and offenders gain greater control of their lives that prosecutors make peace. Prosecutors must first listen to the most obvious victims at hand, those whose lives have been inflicted with psychological and physical suffering in a disruption of their lives by a crime committed against them. Prosecutors must listen to victims' stories and determine what victims would prefer to do next. The most basic requirement of prosecutorial responses to offenders or suspects is that victims gain control of and guide the process. What prosecutors do to or with offenders and suspects within those limits should be aimed at establishing relations within which offenders and suspects can participate responsibly and equitably, without either subordinating or being subordinated by others. Although there may be no alternative to the use of force to prevent an imminent threat that an offender may hurt himself/herself or others, the principle of "minimizing the force necessary to keep the peace" applies. This chapter discusses instances in which prosecutors' decision making may inflict greater suffering on victims and contribute to offenders becoming more dangerous, with attention to drug cases and domestic violence cases. 22 references