Restorative Justice

Millions of prisoners are held in crowded, debilitating conditions as they wait for trial. The system moves slowly—some prisoners wait for trial longer than the maximum sentence they could receive if found guilty.

The system does not rehabilitate people who are convicted of crime. Once sreleased, most will re-offend within five years.

Victims of crime are generally ignored except when needed as witnesses in criminal prosecution. They receive little help to recover from their trauma.

But there is a better way, and it’s called restorative justice.

Restorative justice repairs the harm caused by crime by emphasizing accountability, forgiveness, and making amends. When victims, offenders, and community members meet to decide how to do that, the result are transformational.

This approach has been shown to reduce costs within the criminal justice system, lower repeat offender rates, reduce post-traumatic stress in victims of crime, and increase the number of cases brought to justice.