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Walter, thanks for these questions. Research in this country and in
communities across the world show that restorative justice does have a
very strong influence in terms of reducing recidivism rates with
juveniles. It appears to have an influence with adults as well. Remember
that recidivism rates only measure the known (someone being caught again)
and some in the restorative movement downplay even numbers that support
this movement for that reason. If there is an interest I'll dig this
weekend and find the most recent hard recidivism numbers.
There has been some sentiment expressed in this community that
restoration only comes after criminal justice. While it is true that it
can be offered after the criminal process is completed, thankfully there
is growing work being done to offer alternatives to the traditional
process of retribution.
One value of restorative justice is to promote healing wherever
it can be found. Restorative conferences in cases of murder or death are
held between the offender and the victim's family, friends, etc. There
could be an empty chair, a picture or whatever, but there is no hard
and fast rule on that. Cases of murder and other deaths require deep
healing and often the victims want restorative justice in these cases even
more than "routine" cases. Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation is
one of the stronger supporters of restorative justice. They travel the
country and talk about their experience; some have had meetings with the
offenders, most (maybe all) are opposed to the death penalty. Last spring
we hosted a conference and one of the speakers was a Mother whose daughter
was murdered in 1980. She has gone through an informal process of
reconciliation with her daughter's killer and is now one of the primary
advocates fighting the death Warrant issued by the state of
California.
Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania all have state sanctioned restorative
justice programs for high risk cases (including murder). All of these
programs are victim centered in that the victim must request a conference.
The Texas program is probably the best known despite their insistence that
they do not advertise. There are over five-hundred victims and family
members on a waiting list who want to meet with murderers, rapists,
etc. The story of Linda White was aired on court television in September
of 2001. It documents in great detail the process used: including the
training of facilitators and preparing victims and offenders for the
conference. Linda's daughter was murdered in 1986. Last year Linda and her
granddaughter voluntarily met with the man who killed their daughter/
Mother. Equally important to the conference was that the victims two
brothers declined to participate. The pain was too great, but they did
send questions along with the others. At the end of the conference Linda
and her daughter asked the facilitator to take a series of pictures of
them standing with the killer (Gary Brown).
Restorative justice respects the rights of those victims and
offenders who chose not to participate, regardless of the severity of the
crime. Sometimes healing can be done without direct involvement of
one party or the other . Equally important is to respect the healing
process and rights of those who do want a more restorative paradigm of
justice. One father whose son completed a conference that I facilitated
said, "restorative justice has to work with the hard cases if is ever
going to make a meaningful difference in the community."
Tony
-------Original Message-------
1. What is the rate of re-offense when juvenile restorative justice is used vs. when it is not? (including later when they are adults) 2. Who do the offenders meet with when the victim is dead? Is there an empty chair in the circle of friends and relatives? This is not totally intended as a frivolous question as I am wondering if such practice should, by definition, not include cases where a death has occurred. Walter Steed . |
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