Despite its success in civil cases, mediation has not been as widely adopted by U.S. courts to resolve criminal disputes. This article, the winner of the 2010 James Boskey ADR Writing Competition, discusses adapting mediation to criminal cases, of which there are already 300 programs in the United States. The author highlights restorative justice and victim-offender mediation processes and addresses issues of apology, voluntariness, access to counsel, and confidentiality. Victim-offender mediation is generally used for juvenile crimes and misdemeanors, reduces recidivism and has high participant satisfaction rates. On the other hand, its flaws include increased vulnerability for the victim and questionable voluntariness of offender participation. Plea negotiation mediation may have an effect similar to that of victim-offender mediation, according to the author, with less procedural vulnerability, though this process, too, has potential flaws.
Mediation as Practiced in Criminal Law: The Present, the Pitfalls, and the Potential
Go, Flora. Jan. 1, 2010http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/dispute/docs/2010_BoskeyEssay_Winner_FloraGo.authcheckdam.pdf