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AMY: I have nothing against you. I don't.
I'm just a little upset about the fact, yes she's your daughter, but she did something very wrong.
Be it four years ago, let me finish, but I do not understand why you just want to keep protecting her.
I don't want to see her go to jail. Does that help you? PAM: Yes.
AMY: I don't want to see her go to jail. I've known her since she was a little kid.
I've known her since the day she was born.
I don't want to see her go to jail, but I do want to see her take responsibility for this.
I do. Sam, I think you need to take complete responsibility for this.
Not take help from Pam, nothing. You need to pay me back.
You need to make everything right.
I want you to understand where I'm coming from.
I've lost a lot, too, during all this. And most of all trust.
I let her babysit my kids. Let her into my home.
I thought she was doing a great job, and she was embezzling money from my account.
Or she claims someone else was.
ALLEN: The loss of trust is even more disappointing in some ways than the loss of money,
is that what you are saying?
AMY: Definitely, definitely.
ALLEN: Does that make sense to you, Pam and Samantha, how Amy feels about this?
SAMANTHA: Amy, you're right.
You helped me out when I was going through a really hard time. You're right.
I always kind of thought of as you and my mom as friends, and I know I've come between that,
but I didn't think about how much you trusted me, and letting me babysit Peter and Chuck,
and what that meant to you. I really didn't think about that.
ALLEN: What should we do now?
What have you guys thought of that might repair some of this damage that's been done to all of you?
You're all in pain.
SAM: I guess that's on me. Amy I don't know if you accept this.
When we talked before, Allen and my mom, I agree with you that it's important that I pay this back.
I can do it. I just want to do whatever I can to pay this back.
PAM: You have to give her a chance. I know that this wasn't good, but it's eight weeks, let's...
AMY: What should we do?
ALLEN: I'll just say one thing. If you guys work on an agreement,
it's not all about trust, because if the judge likes your agreement,
it's going to be so ordered and it's going be just like any court enforced contract,
so that you won't have to trust things with money.
Of course you have to trust things about the psychology and the relationship, but
the money the court may agree to enforce this, and it will be also a sort of memory of what you agreed upon.
SAM: Doing this every month until it's paid back, and I don't know what to do
about anything else right now, but...
AMY: Let's start with this for now.
ALLEN: The total principle value of the theft you determined is $5,000, is that right?
You all agree with that statement. It was taken from the checking account,
and now you are saying that you would like to pay it back in monthly payments.
You folks have been... Thank you for coming to the table, and for talking so quite honestly
with each other, and for working out the restitution agreement, Samantha,
that you find acceptable, and for your support, Pam, for your daughter.
So let's adjourn for a few minutes while I write up this agreement, and I want you to read it carefully.
We'll put it on the computer so you can revise it if you'd like, and then I'll bring back the agreement,
you can look at it, if you like it, you'll sign it, and we'll send it to the court so that the judge...
AMY: Do we get copies? ALLEN: Of course.
You all get copies and you all sign it so that the judge will know that you've all agreed.
You will sign it as a witness and support person.
KAREN: Just a few notes about the mediation.
First of all, you saw at the beginning of the mediation, the mediator discussed
the rules of confidentiality.
Those are the laws as they exist in New York.
Your jurisdiction might have very different rules, though you need to be familiar with that.
Also, keep in mind that you saw excerpts from a much longer process.
The mediation took hours with each individual party, prior to them getting into the same room,
and discussed the underlying issues and the history.
On the day of the actual mediation, that was edited out, there was much longer discussions
about the underlying issue, all the possible dispositions to the matter including
jail options, and specific details in terms of the retribution, and how it was going to be paid
and when it was going to be paid.
Those were deleted because they're not important for our own purposes,
but you got the overall idea of the mediation, the benefits.
To just recap -- the parties got to sit down and dicuss all the issues in a private,
non-intimidating environment.
They had the oppurtunity to address their concerns, and to voice their feelings,
and they got to do a written agreemen that can now be forwarded to the judge
and possibly incorporated as part of the disposition of the matter.
As a prosecutor or as a defense attorney or as a judge, you can look at this matter and say,
it's probably a better resolution then if they would have gone through just criminal court
or supreme court since it was a felony.
The complainant got what she wanted.
She's getting her money paid back, her voice heard.
The defendant benefited by hopefully avoiding a felony record and a jail disposition.
Now she can be a productive member, continue with her education, get a job,
and be a tax paying citizen, without the burden of having a felony conviction on her record.
Keep in mind that the complainant never wanted a jail disposition, and may not have
wanted a felony or even her arrested.
So better outcomes for everyone.
Hopefully the dramatization highlighted some of the benefits of mediation.
Bottom line. Time and court congestion.
The mediator here spent the hours necessary speaking to the party, getting to the heart of the issue,
discussing hurt feelings, and discussing possible outcomes. That's time that the court did not neet to spend,
time that the attorneys did not need to spend. Time that was diverted and that they can concentrate on other cases.
Some of these cases may even be able to be identified early and diverted
entirely from the court system, meaning that it does not even have to be handled by the court,
which saves the court time, saves the court calendar.
Secondly, more efficient use of time translates into less courts, meaning that
once the underlying issue is resolved, hopefully there is less recidivism, less court appearance,
less need to check compliance.
That translates to money saved.
Money saved by place officers not having to go out there and investigate and make other arrests.
Money saved by paperwork not having to be processed through the court system.
Money saved by individuals not being incarcerated and costing other tax payers money.
And best of all, let's not forget, lower crime statistics. Better for everyone.
The prosecutor is happy because the matter has been resolved successfully,
the complainant is happy, the offender was held accountable, which hopefully translates
into lower recidivism.
The prosecutor no longer has to be concerned about these parties.
Lower recidivism means lower crime stats and possibly re-election for the DA.
Furthermore, it translates to less cases on the calendar, less court congestion,
and the ability to concentrate on the more serious matters, and to possibly go to trial on cases.
Society can feel safer because of the lack of recidivism.
It is important to realize that establishing or expanding a mediation program
in your jurisdiction may not be as difficult as it seems.
There are many resources out there.
Look to your local civil court, family court, or criminal court. Look to your local courts.
Whether it's your civil court, your family court, or the court that handles your divorces.
They probably have mediation programs in place, or partner with mediation organizations.
Look to your schools.
Whether it's your high schools, your colleges, your universities, or law schools.
They probably have on staff mediation mediators or mediation programs.
Look to the national or local bar association and see if they do trainings on mediations.
Look to other jurisdictions that offer such programs for guidance.
Just remember that any case can be appropriate for mediation.
Mediation is offered in such cases as violations involving public urination and prostitution
where you bring in the community and you have the offender sit down and
discuss possible outcomes and how it effects the community.
Mediation is also offered in such violent cases as *** assault and homicides,
where the department of probation, parole, and corrections are involved.
They realize the significance of the offender sitting down with the victims or
the victims' family, and apologizing and taking responsibility for their actions.
It is up to you to determine what mediation program is appropriate for your jurisdiction
and what cases are most appropriate.
We welcome you to look outside the box, and re-think what justice means.
Thank you.