Pursuit Magazine : Why every criminal case needs mitigation

This article is excerpted from The Handbook for Mitigation: A Practical Guide for the Community around a Criminal Case, by Victoria Rusk, with permission of the author.

Mitigation makes a difference as it has the power to balance the scales of justice. We aren’t mitigating the crime—we can’t make that less painful, harsh, or damaging. In the business, we say, “We mitigate the person, not the crime.” We humanize the accused. We tell the story of their human experience, to present decision makers with the information and viewpoint they need to make a moral decision on punishment. This article is an excerpted from The Handbook for Mitigation: A Practical Guide for the Community around a Criminal Case.