The stanford rape case and the stand of the restorative justice system

According to Marian Liebmann, author of Restorative Justice: How It Works, restorative justice is defined as “ Restorative justice aims to restore the well-being of victims, offenders and communities damaged by crime, and to prevent further offending.” Restorative justice has a main objective of returning peace to everyone involved in the crime- the offenders, victims, and community as a whole, while trying to prevent any future convictions. The Stanford rape case has propped the ears of many who feel 20-year-old Brock Allen Turner’s act towards was truly unjust and should be punished accordingly. The restorative justice system sees this case in a different manner. Restorative justice believes that family/court group conferencing could be the best for all involved in the case.

Family/court group conferencing involves the offender family members getting together and mutually agree to a possible plan for amends and for the future. This is important because it gives the offender a chance to right his wrong and possibly fix a broken situation. In this case, Turners’ family would sit down to discuss what he has done and they would come up with a plan to fix what he had done. This getting together of the family helps recognize what Turner has done and they begin to focus on how they can make amends and try to do right for the victim, her family, and their own family. Turner should have to make amends for his wrongdoing.

The victim claims (and never forgetting) that he mentioned her liking it. As restorative justice claims in this sense, his family should make reparations and a plan that help her and also make him realize his mistake in this act. It will make him accept what he has done and that it was his fault. The victim kept mentioning, “ You don’t know me, but you’ve been inside me…”. She became labeled a rape victim, she no longer wanted to be in her own skin, no longer able to recognize it. Conferencing would shed light on this matter and how she, as the victim, feels after being violated. He would have to accept what he did and the family would discuss how he would compensate for such a deed, along with maybe writing a letter to the victim about what he did and that he did wrong. This would protect him from jail time, as well as getting a foot in the door to undoing the damage he’s done to her.

This group conferencing between the family could possibly lead to some tension being relieved. As a rape victim, I feel like she would want answers to her questions as to why he did what he did, what was going through his mind, etc. and this family/group conferencing would devise a plan to try and rectify the damage that was done. The girl he raped keeps questioning as to why he did what he did when she was drunk, on the floor, barely able to speak. She wants to know why you didn’t bring her inside where it was warm. Why others had to stop you. Could you not see a girl barely able to hold herself up. She has these thoughts everyday about what happened to her and the family/group conferencing would shed light on some of the questions that arise in ones’ head if the plan was to get Turner and the victim together under a mediator to discuss the matter so she knows he has at least recognized his wrongdoing. He would realize the full impact of his crime on her life. But as a victim, she would be able to express her feelings, help him realize what he’s done, and be able to put it behind her, if at all possible.

The family of the victim and the family have suffered quite immensely. They have to live with the fact of knowing the person out there is still wandering the streets and that he has done this, leaving their daughter in a damaged state. Getting a family/court group conferencing could possibly help the family and victim. They could create a plan to get the girl counseling if she needs or any services she needs to compensate for the damage put upon her. A person is usually scarred and hurt mentally, as well as physically and psychologically. During this time, she will be spending a lot of time thinking about what happened and the support of her family and others to talk to, to help answer some of the questions she has, would make her feel a little better.

The offender, Brock Allen Turner, fails to realize he is the cause of this. He fails to realize he should not have inserted anything into her. She was lying on the floor, passed out. The right thing to do would have been to bring her inside where her sister was there and would make sure that she would wake up. But instead he raped her. A family/court group conferencing could lead him to write a letter to her and her family apologizing and, to further the situation, he would have to transcribe that he does accept that he was wrong, he would have to acknowledge and take responsibility for his actions, which up until now, he has not. That may not fix the matter but it would lift her a little bit. The objective of this plan is to help the offender in amending his ways while planning for the future and what awaits him. He will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life and he will have to accept that this one act may possibly end any dreams he had for himself. This one act may have cost him his future…maybe his life.