A tale of two states: how U.S. state legislatures consider restorative justice policies

This paper explores recent state legislative processes in Colorado and Texas related to bills proposing support for restorative justice as a juvenile diversion tool for criminal courts. It uses two maximum variation case studies to explore issue statements related to theoretically-supported factors...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Contemporary justice review : CJR 2017-04, Vol.20 (2), p.255-273
Main Author: Sliva, Shannon M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
advocacy coalitions
Case studies
Coalitions
Collaboration
Colorado
Courts
Criminal justice
criminal justice policy
Decision making
Economic stress
Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship
Interest groups
Juvenile justice
Legislation
Legislative process
Legislatures
Partisanship
policy entrepreneurs
policy process
Reconciliation
Restorative justice
State government
State legislatures
States
Texas
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Summary:This paper explores recent state legislative processes in Colorado and Texas related to bills proposing support for restorative justice as a juvenile diversion tool for criminal courts. It uses two maximum variation case studies to explore issue statements related to theoretically-supported factors likely to influence the adoption of restorative justice legislation, and draws conclusions about the importance of political partisanship, economic strain, and key figures such as policy entrepreneurs, advocacy coalitions, and interest groups in legislative decision-making. Emerging themes suggest that support for restorative justice policies is at least sometimes bipartisan and is unlikely to be motivated by economic interests. Collaborative processes within a traditionally adversarial system distinguished successful restorative justice decision-making in Colorado.
ISSN:1028-2580
1477-2248
DOI:10.1080/10282580.2017.1307111