Theorizing a Restorative Response to Homicide.

This paper argues: (1) retributive theories of punishment fail to account for salient dimensions of homicide; (2) retributive theories must be supplemented by restorative justice principles in order to account for the phenomenon of homicide; and (3) in order to robustly account for the phenomenon of homicide in this way, retributive theories must relinquish their claim to justifying capital punishment. It begins by examining the values animating retributive theories of punishment and demonstrating how they conceal salient dimensions of murder and criminal justice, such as the basically interpersonal nature of crime and the psychological harm that stems from it. In order to account for these aspects of homicide, which escape consideration under retributivist values alone, this paper looks beyond those theories to the insights and values animating restorative justice. It argues that retributivism should be supplemented by a relational view of crime in order to bring into view the constellation of psychological harms that are associated with homicide. In order to more comprehensively theorize homicide and a just response to it by adopting the insights and values of restorative justice, retributive theory must sacrifice any claim to justifying capital punishment. The infliction of the death penalty is so fundamentally toxic to the aims and values animating restorative justice that capital punishment must be given up for the sake of an honest, comprehensive theory. This paper conceives in broad outline how punishment for murder could be tailored in light of restorative values in order to create the conditions for contrition, remorse, and genuine apology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]