The Promise of Restorative Justice |
The current criminal justice system is financially and ethically untenable . Plagued by the unsustainable cost of incarceration , high recidivism rates , the devastating impact on children of incarcerated parents , the burden and collateral consequences of criminal conviction , a “ school to prison ” pipeline borne of excessively harsh academic disciplinary measures , and racial , economic , and geographic inequalities , our communities need alternatives to traditional punitive models . 30
The purpose of this article has been to plead , based on the cornerstone of justice as balance and balancing , for the current , coercive , adversarial criminal justice system officials — its judges , prosecutors , and defense attorneys — to make room for restorative justice processes . So often these processes result in reconciliation and peaceful outcomes . So often they are deeply appreciated by those who participate in them .
Conclusion
There is no reason for any attorney or judge in our state to feel restorative justice processes will undermine our current criminal justice system . These processes can be the healing agent of our tottering justice system .
Because our state depends upon just men and women within it to keep it a just state , the state should allow restorative justice processes to supersede adversarial criminal justice processes whenever possible . In this way , the effects of the negative consequences that flow from criminal acts will be arrested and laid to rest by those who are the only ones can truly do so — by the parties most affected by the acts themselves . But this laying to rest will not be true for those unwilling to accept and face the truth of their actions . For them and for society at large , our current criminal and correctional justice system will serve effectively , if , ultimately , without plea “ deals .” If the parties most directly affected by a crime can resolve the conflict and harm created by the criminal act on their own , yet with the guidance and under the supervision of a trained , state-approved , restorative justice facilitator , they will be helping themselves to live in more peaceful and self-consciously considerate relationships . Although outcomes for various categories of crimes may differ widely with restorative justice resolutions , so , too , do the circumstances and ripple effects of these crimes — but they will be effects and circumstances most intimately known by the parties involved in the forging of the restorative agreements , not by professionally-motivated third-party attorneys and advocates assigned
|
by the state .
It is time to let restorative justice processes lead and be at the forefront of our criminal justice system . The promise of restorative justice is simple : restorative justice is justice . ____________________ Jan Peter Dembinski , Esq ., of Woodstock , VT , has been trained in Restorative Justice processes by the Vermont Department of Corrections and the Institute of International Restorative Practices of Bethlehem , PA . As a general editor , he authored the Restorative Justice & Restorative Practices chapter of the Vermont Department of Corrections Sentencing Options Manual ( 2013 ). ____________________
1
Zehr , Howard , The Little Book of Restorative Justice . Notes by Neekan Oshidary . http :// neekaan . com / TheLittleBookofRestorativeJustice . pdf
2
For an explanation of the various restorative justice processes , there are innumerable websites and organizations now devoted to promoting and explaining them . Go to , for example , http :// restorativejustice . org , http :// restorativejustice . org , or https :// www . iirp . edu .
3
A motto of Williams College , engraved on a gateway to the West College dormitory .
4
See Zehr , Howard , Changing Lenses , Herald Press ; 3rd edition , 2005 . This groundbreaking book in the field of restorative justice recognized and promoted the awareness of crime as harm to individuals in contrast to crime as a violation against the state .
5
The fundamental shortcomings of such a system in respect to human nature were first examined by Christie , Nils , “ Conflicts As Property ,” The British Journal of Criminology , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , 1 January 1977 , Pages 1 – 15 . Christie ’ s article is one of the foundational essays on justice in regards to restorative justice .
6
I assure the reader of this on the basis of my 18 years of experience in teaching law classes to inmates under contract with the Vermont Department of Corrections .
7
Wister , Owen , The Virginian : A Horseman of the Plain , 100 th Anniversary Edition , Buffalo Bill Memorial Association , Buffalo Bill Historical Center , Cody , Wyoming , 2002 , p . 166 . from Chapter XXIII , “ Various Points ,” p . 139 .
8
Keats , John , Ode on a Grecian Urn .
9
If the reader has any doubt of the truth of that statement , I strongly urge him or her to watch the TED talk video on YouTube , “ Moral Behavior in Animals ,” by Frans de Waal in which two chimpanzees are paid unequally for doing the same amount of work ( https :// www . ted . com / talks / frans _ de _ waal _ do _ animals _ have _ morals ). We are more than chimpanzees .
10
Payne , George Cassidy , http :// www . krwg . org / post / global-unity-and-healing-building-communities-restorative-approach . July 5 , 2018 .
11
Here is the pertinent section of the Meno : Soc . …[ N ] ow , in your turn , you are to fulfill your promise , and tell me what virtue is in the universal ; and do not make a singular into a plural , as the facetious say of those who break a thing , but deliver virtue to me whole and sound , and not broken into a number of pieces : I have given you the pattern . Men . Well then , Socrates , virtue , as I take it , is when he , who desires the honourable , is able to provide it for himself ; so the poet says , and I say too- Virtue is the desire of things honourable and the power of attaining them .
|
Soc . And does he who desires the honourable also desire the good ? Men . Certainly . Soc . Then are there some who desire the evil and others who desire the good ? Do not all men , my dear sir , desire good ? Men . I think not . Soc . There are some who desire evil ? Men . Yes . Soc . Do you mean that they think the evils which they desire , to be good ; or do they know that they are evil and yet desire them ? Men . Both , I think . Soc . And do you really imagine , Meno , that a man knows evils to be evils and desires them notwithstanding ? Men . Certainly I do . Soc . And desire is of possession ? Men . Yes , of possession . Soc . And does he think that the evils will do good to him who possesses them , or does he know that they will do him harm ? Men . There are some who think that the evils will do them good , and others who know that they will do them harm . Soc . And , in your opinion , do those who think that they will do them good know that they are evils ? Men . Certainly not . Soc . Is it not obvious that those who are ignorant of their nature do not desire them ; but they desire what they suppose to be goods although they are really evils ; and if they are mistaken and suppose the evils to be good they really desire goods ? Men . Yes , in that case . Soc . Well , and do those who , as you say , desire evils , and think that evils are hurtful to the possessor of them , know that they will be hurt by them ? Men . They must know it . Soc . And must they not suppose that those who are hurt are miserable in proportion to the hurt which is inflicted upon them ? Men . How can it be otherwise ? Soc . But are not the miserable ill-fated ? Men . Yes , indeed . Soc . And does any one desire to be miserable and ill-fated ? Men . I should say not , Socrates . Soc . But if there is no one who desires to be miserable , there is no one , Meno , who desires evil ; for what is misery but the desire and possession of evil ? Men . That appears to be the truth , Socrates , and I admit that nobody desires evil . Soc . And yet , were you not saying just now that virtue is the desire and power of attaining good ? Men . Yes , I did say so . Soc . But if this be affirmed , then the desire of good is common to all , and one man is no better than another in that respect ? Men . True . Soc . And if one man is not better than another in desiring good , he must be better in the power of attaining it ? Men . Exactly . Soc . Then , according to your definition , virtue would appear to be the power of attaining good ? Men . I entirely approve , Socrates , of the manner in which you now view this matter . Plato : The Complete Works ( 31 Books ) ( Kindle Locations 8537-8565 ). Titan Read Classics . Kindle Edition .
12
Confucius . The Doctrine of the Mean . Complete Works of Confucius ( Kindle Locations 2157-2160 ). Minerva Classics . Kindle Edition .
13
Aristotle . Nicomachean Ethics ( Kindle Lo-
|