Tracey Booth

'Cooling Out' Victims of Crime: Managing Victim Participation in the Sentencing Process in a Superior Sentencing Court

Victim participation in the sentencing hearing by way of oral victim impact statements (VISs) is a contentious aspect of contemporary criminal justice. A particular concern is that the disjuncture between the legal goals of the sentencing hearing on the one hand and the goals of victims on the other can generate tension and conflict in the courtroom and threaten the integrity of the process. The subject of this article is the management and containment of victim participation in 18 sentencing hearings observed in the NSW Supreme Court. It is argued that various cooling out structures and processes effectively managed and contained the emotional tension in the courtroom as well as assisted victims to adjust to the legal constraints and the compromise inherent in their position in the process.

The Illusory Dichotomy of Plagiarism

Plagiarism has been characterised as a ‘major problem’ for universities. While tensions between students and universities are inevitable, the problem with the existing system of plagiarism management and prevention is that it operates to problematise the relationship between the university and the student, rather than address the core academic issues. As a result, a dichotomy is created where the student interest is constructed as adverse to that of the institution. This article argues that de-dichotomisation of the current polarity of plagiarism will open space for alternative thoughtful considerations in dealing with plagiarism positively in an institutional context.

Victim Impact Statements and the Nature and Incidence of Offender Remorse: Findings from an Observation Study in a Superior Sentencing Court

Scholars have argued that disclosure of the impact of the crime on the victim through victim impact statements has the potential to produce an emotional response in offenders that creates an opportunity for offenders to express remorse and apologise to crime victims in the sentencing hearing. Implicit in this claim is the concept that the incidence of such victim-focused remorse is a virtue and a positive restorative element of VISs. Drawing from data largely generated by observation of eighteen sentencing hearings of homicide offenders and semi-structured interviews with fourteen family victims, this article examines this claim by exploring offender response to victim impact statements, and the nature and incidence of offender remorse observed in the courtroom.

Victim Impact Statements, Sentencing and Contemporary Standards of Fairness in the Courtroom

The participation of crime victims in sentencing proceedings through victim impact statements (VIS) is a prominent and contentious feature of criminal justice policy in most common law jurisdictions where the legal proceedings are of an adversarial nature.1 While of course no one is ‘anti-victim’, incorporating a subjective victim voice in the legal proceedings, particularly through VIS read aloud to the court by victims (oral VIS), has proved controversial for many commentators and legal practitioners (Ashworth 1993; Bandes 1996; Booth 2007a, 2012; Edwards 2004; Erez 2000; Erez et al. 2014; Hall 1991; Henderson 1985; Hoyle et al. 1998; Kirchengast 2010; Logan 2008; Rock 2010; Sanders et al. 2001; Sarat 1997).