Self defense and restorative justice

from Cynthia Alkon's entry on ADR Prof Blog:

I am teaching Criminal Law this semester and have struggled with how to move beyond the standard casebook vision that every criminal case goes to a jury trial and then has some fascinating appellate issue to review.... Last week, when we were discussing self-defense, I used an example that allowed for some of that discussion, with the help of a few videos. 

Many of you have probably seen a recent video out of Australia that went viral as an example of one boy fighting back against a bully. The link is: bullying. I showed this very short video in class and then we discussed whether the boy who is seen to be “fighting back” could assert self defense under the Texas Penal Code. Predictably, given the perspective from the video, the whole class assumed that the younger child was the aggressor and that the other was the victim who was fighting back to protect himself, and acting within the law. 

Apr 08, 2011 Conceptual, Theory

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