1. In order to receive full credit and give your classmates the opportunity to respond to your posting must be posted on time. Original postings that are posted after Thursday 11:59 pm CT will incur a 5-point late penalty.
2. There is also a 5-point penalty for failure to post responses on at least two different days.
3. Please address classmates by their names in your postings to avoid confusion that sometimes happens with replies.

Discussion Topics

Chapter 10 Discussion

1. How does restorative justice differ from traditional justice? Why is the assumption that restorative justice is not suitably punitive not necessarily true? Choose one of the case studies on page 246, determine which restorative justice option is best suited to the offender, and explain why.
2. Locate an example of a Victim-Offender Mediation (VOM) program and also an example of a Reparations Board or Reparations Program and provide a description of each as well as the URLs to web sites where you located the examples. Compare the purpose and process of Victim-Offender Mediation (VOM) and Reparation Boards. How are they similar? Different?
3. How can restitution be used for juveniles who are too young to legally work full-time? Using the restorative justice approach, what would you require as a sentence for a 15-year-old offender who forcefully broke a window to get into a house and stole property valued at $1,000 when the occupants were at work?

Chapter 11 Discussion

1. What are collateral consequences of a felony? Research collateral consequences of a felony in your state. Which rights can be restored? Which rights cannot be restored? Which civil and political rights, in your opinion, should be permanently prohibited from ALL offenders for the rest of their lives? Which civil and political rights, in your opinion, do not make any sense to limit? If you feel that some civil and political rights should be limited according to offense, identify which should be limited to which type of offender.
2. What rights, if any, are attached to the parole release decision proceedings? If you were a prisoner, which method of release from prison would you prefer, mandatory or discretionary/automatic? Why would you choose this type of release system? What issues would you expect to face once you were released? How would reentry affect you and your family?
3. What are the primary qualifications of a good parole board member? Why are these qualities important? Review the case studies at the end of chapter 11 (pages 278-279). Choose one and determine whether or not the offender should be released. Justify your decision. What factors did you consider in attempting to arrive at a just and fair decision?