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Justice that Restores

Building justice that restores is about recognizing and advancing the dignity of human life. It promotes accountability for the responsible party, prioritizes harmed party participation, and cultivates community engagement.

  • Justice that restores transitions the government from “playing the victim” of crime to being an administrator of justice.
  • Justice that restores prioritizes and respects victims by providing assistance, validation, restitution, information, protection, and participation.
  • Justice that restores compels responsible parties to make up for their harms and advocates for a just process, proportional punishment, a chance to make amends, a constructive culture, opportunities to earn trust, and closure.
  • Justice that restores enables communities to facilitate justice through education, acceptance, support, civic participation and safety.

We have suffered decades of unproductive pendulum-swings in criminal justice. It is time to build what some may see as a new and radical model, but is actually a long-standing and well-proven one: justice that restores.

Justice that Restores

harmed-party-icon

VICTIM


RESPONSIBLE PARTY


COMMUNITIES


Harmed Party

VICTIM

The harm that crime victims and survivors experience is often significant. Crime disrupts lives. Beyond this, many victims feel re-victimized by the criminal justice system, especially when it excludes them from much of the process. An effective system promotes the need for restoring the harmed parties through consistent consideration throughout the criminal justice process.

Although crime often causes damage that can never be fully restored, harmed parties have legal rights that should be enforced. Some legal rights are unqualified and available without any contingencies. Other legal rights are qualified—that is, they are limited only as necessary to protect the victim from harm or to protect the due process rights of the responsible party. Crime survivors may need help regaining a sense of safety and control over their lives, and assistance with the material and other damage they suffer. Our criminal justice system should not hinder the fulfillment of these needs.

ASSISTANCE
Help for harmed parties could include emergency food, shelter, crime scene cleanup, support groups, counseling, pastoral care, and mediation opportunities.
PROTECTION
Safeguards against intimidation and harassment, and protection of personal information.
VALIDATION
Acknowledgment throughout the justice process that the harm should not have happened and that justice includes victims’ needs and rights.
PARTICIPATION
Ability to be part of the criminal justice process through such means as impact statements, input on plea bargains, and sentencing recommendations.
INFORMATION
Notification about such things as legal rights and how to exercise them, criminal justice processes, and events like prison escape, capture, and release.
RESTITUTION
Monetary, in-kind, or other form of amends due to the harmed party from the responsible for the damage caused by the offense. Ideally, restitution is agreed on together by the harmed part and responsible party.

RESPONSIBLE PARTY

Justice that restores requires the system to do more than warehouse people convicted of crimes. Men and women should be accountable for accepting responsibility for the harm they caused to their victims and take steps to make amends and rebuild trust with their communities.

Justice that restores also delivers punishments that are proportional to the crime. This means treating people convicted of a crime with fairness and dignity, even if they are locked behind bars. And it means opening the door to a fresh start.

Responsible Party
JUST PROCESS
Constitutional due process including fair judgment and treatment under the law, regardless of individual traits or circumstances.
MAKE AMENDS
Purposeful ways to make up for harms caused by wrongdoing, such as apology, service, and payment.
PROPORTIONAL PUNISHMENT
Punishment should aim to restore the harmed party, responsible party, and the impacted community through providing accountability that fits the crime. Alternatives to incarceration should be considered where appropriate. Sentencing should rightly correspond to the seriousness of the offense, the defendant’s intent, and sentences imposed for the same crime in other cases.
EARN TRUST
Take responsibility, make amends, and demonstrate sincere intent to live positively in the future.
CONSTRUCTIVE CULTURE
Corrections promotes, enforces, and models attitudes and behaviors that are consistent with productive life in society.
CLOSURE
Formal recognition that all requirements, including punishment and restitution, have been satisfied so that the person can rejoin society.
Communities

COMMUNITIES

A system focused on restoration recognizes that crime doesn't just affect the perpetrators and victims, it also injures the community by eroding public safety and confidence, disrupting order, and undermining common values. A rehabilitative response to crime considers these harms and engages communities in solutions. Governments promote safety by using proven crime reduction practices in criminal justice and promoting community education and participation in solutions.

Communities take an active role in giving support to harmed parties and supporting reintegration for responsible parties.

LIBERTY
Ensure the freedom of citizens from an overreaching or overbearing government.
ACCEPTANCE
Help restore men and women who have completed criminal punishment by assisting with their full integration into community life.
SAFETY
Promote and develop crime reduction practices with proven outcomes.
SUPPORT
Care for victims of crime through practical and emotional assistance.
EDUCATION
Provide and promote education about crime, justice, and productive government-community cooperation.
CIVIC PARTICIPATION
Promote truthful crime reporting and testimony, and participation in civic responsibilities like jury duty.

FAITH & JUSTICE FELLOWSHIP LEGISLATIVE PLAYBOOK

A report designed to assist policymakers and staff as they support justice reform that transforms those responsible forcrime, validates victims, and encourages communities to play a role in creating a safe, redemptive, and just society.

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Please join our growing network of individuals, advocates and organizations that are working together to reform the criminal justice system in America according to the Biblical principles of restorative justice.

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