29 March 2022

This NSCR lecture series, Restorative Justice and Environmental Harms, 4 -31 May,
explores how communities and the criminal justice system might reconsider punishment
for crimes against the environment. Environmental protection legislation
typically relies on law enforcement to achieve compliance through detection and
arrest; a deterrence model. The logic is simple, if getting caught is too costly, people
will not break the rules. Punishments such as fines and incarceration are meant to
‘rehabilitate’ the offender and have them ‘pay their debt to society’. This approach
relies heavily on (a) the ability of law enforcement to detect violations and (b) the
quality of the criminal justice system post-arrest.

See here for more information.