Lisa M. Rea, a former Prison Fellowship staff member and the founder of the Justice and Reconciliation Project, offers her thoughts on the future of restorative justice in a paper released by the Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University.
In “Restorative Justice: The New Way Forward,” Rea urges her readers to reconsider the very nature of crime, and how we have defined it as a society. “[Crime] is not an offense of a criminal against the state,” she argues, “but an offense committed by one individual (the offender) against other individuals (the victims). . . . Restorative justice acknowledges that crime breaks the peace within communities. Offenders, therefore, must make things right with the community as well, if possible.”
Rea concludes:
Restorative justice promises to move us away from warehousing offenders and toward a system that leads offenders to personal accountability and allows victims to heal. It needs the support of all who are committed to doing justice, to restoring the lives of victims, and to transforming the lives of offenders. It requires champions who advocate for public policy changes to make restorative justice a reality throughout our justice system.
Do you agree with Rea? What are the limitations to a restorative justice approach to corrections?