Educate yourself
Ann Coulter, please educate yourself onthe extreme benefits of restorative justice, which include dramatically lowering the recidivism rate, giving victims the chance to speak directly to those responsible for the offense, giving the responsible party a path for repairing the harms of their crimes, keeping families together, and much, much more.
I was a volunteer for my Colorado community’s restorative justice program before moving to Kaua‘i many years ago. Our recidivism rate was 10 percent, compared with the 70 percent national recidivism rate for those who went to prison.
That means that people who take responsibility for their crime can stay at home with their families, greatly broaden their understanding of the harms caused by their behavior, repair those harms to the best of their abilities, become contributing members of their communities, and save taxpayers a huge amount of money.
Let me be clear: our community’s restorative justice program served all ages, firsttime and repeat offenders, and a myriad of offenses.
Unlike those RJ programs that serve only juveniles or misdemeanors (for which I am so grateful), ours addressed felonies and more, including one victim whose loved one died in a traffic accident that was the fault of the other driver.
Some time after the restorative justice program, that other driver was invited into the home and lives of the family whose member she killed. This is a far cry from “Lock Her Up!”
The violence in our country is reflected by the punishment mentality of our criminal justice system. What if, instead of punishment, we offered an opportunity for greater understanding for both the victim and responsible party, and for repairing the harms?
A long, long time ago when I was a freshman in college, I wrote a definition for “Peace”: a state in which each of us naturally desires everyone’s well-being and celebrates the beauty in diversity. We are blessed here in Kaua‘i to experience this caring culture to a great degree. This is the kind of country I want to live in. In order to co-create it, I must live it myself and vote for it.
Marian Head, Kapa‘a
