Restorative Justice

Restorative Justice simply means to treat an offense as an offense against the community, the families, the offender, and the victim. Offenders assume responsibility for their offensive acts. Restoration of the victim as much as is possible is the primary objective. Reconciliation the affected families, communities, offender and as much as possible, the victim, is the preferred framework.

The philosophy and protocol are those of processes which involve addressing the needs of the victim, community, offenders and the families. The strategy deemphasizes the importance of punishment. Restoration replaces punishment, and better results replace expensive state housing. Along with the dismal failure of the "lock-em-up and throw away the key" approach, the "tough on crime" strategy has simply meant, pay more for no justice.

Restorative Justice involves community conferencing with representatives of the community, the victim, families, and the offender. Seeking restoration of the parties, retribution against the offender is not the goal. We will all be hearing more from the Arnulfo T. Garcia Foundation about philosophies of healing, not retribution.