The policy proposal should exclude considerations of whether any proposed new programs or expansions of existing programs meet existing statutory requirements. For purposes of this project, you are to assume that once the proposal is presented to the Judicial Committee of the State Legislature, that committee will charge the Office of Legislative General Counsel to determine what, if any, statutory changes would be necessary.
Questions the proposal would need to address include the following:
Would it cost the state less to implement a victim offender mediation (VOM) program for juvenile offenders than it would to expand the courts and corrections staff and facility infrastructure?
Would it take the state less time to implement a program such as this than it would to expand the courts and corrections staff and facility infrastructure?
To what extent could a VOM program reduce court case backlog and thereby shorten the average time between arrest and case disposition?
What is the “track record” of one or more comparable VOM program(s)?
What are the social benefits and social costs of a VOM program for juvenile offenders both to the offenders themselves and to the larger community?
Are there particular types of cases that are appropriate, as opposed to others that the legislature might want to exclude?
What are the major challenges that will be faced by the Administrative Office of the Courts in implementing this proposed policy in terms of the following:
Program development
Training and credentialing of mediators
“Selling” it to potentially supportive community resources that could become partners with the state in this effort
Case flow and records management
Security issues related to cases being mediated outside of court facilities
Please submit your assignment.
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