Exposing the Restorative Justice ‘Scheme’

It’s a very old political trick.

Take a policy proposal of your opponent’s and add a single word to the end to ensure its vilification.

The word? Scheme.

Attaching the word scheme to any reasonable proposal changes the tone from positive to negative and compels voters to be skeptical of the plan. For example, a proposal to rescue abused animals might be labeled the “Rescue Abused Puppies Scheme.” Voters might begin to ask,

“What are they really going do with those puppies after they are rescued?”

“Are these Democratic puppies or Republican puppies?”

“Will only American puppies be rescued, or will resources be spent on puppies who entered the country illegally?”

You get the idea. In the absence of facts or because of an unwillingness to accept the data, politicos simply incorporate this powerful word in their messaging and raise doubt about the efficacy of the idea.

Understandable fear about crime in Memphis has led to confusion about various proposals to address the issue. Policies regarding bail, traffic stops by police, and the idea of restorative justice have been conflated and branded as “Restorative Justice Schemes.” While the marketing has been effective, the labeling obscures the facts about restorative justice that include the support of Republicans and Democrats across the country, and that restorative justice is rooted in the Christian beliefs many opponents espouse.

Following the August 2022 County Elections, the newly elected District Attorney General, Steve Mulroy, asked if I would serve as a member of his transition team. I accepted the invitation and was eventually given the reins of the small, but important Restorative Justice Working Group. Our charge directly from DA Mulroy was to answer these two questions:

Should the District Attorney work to improve the office’s existing Community Justice Program, or is it more effective to start over from scratch?
In either scenario, what additional staffing, support, and financial investment are required?

Did you catch it? The existing restorative justice program, known as the Community Justice Program, was established by the previous District Attorney General, Amy Weirich, a Republican.

But what is Restorative Justice?

Recognizing that there is ongoing confusion about what restorative justice is, our working group believed it was important to define what we meant, so we developed the following definition from many examples in other jurisdictions:

Restorative justice is an approach to justice that seeks to repair harm to persons and community relationships by providing a process for those harmed (victims, supporters, and community) to participate more fully than in the traditional criminal justice process, thus shifting the primary focus away from the offender and toward the victim. Those who take responsibility for the harm are held accountable and encouraged to act to repair the harm, describe the reasons for the offense, and avoid re-offending.

Restorative justice recognizes that victims have minimal involvement in the traditional criminal justice process, and even though their assailant may be sentenced to jail, the harm is rarely ever truly repaired. Restorative justice also acknowledges that there is always more than one victim. Certainly, the person whose property is taken, for example, is the main victim, but the community in which the crime occurred is victimized as well. Restorative justice holds the responsible party accountable, tries to address underlying causes, and insists the responsible party not reoffend.

Why do we need Restorative Justice?

Researchers for the Center for Justice Innovation spent two years combing through cases in the Suffolk County (Boston) DA’s office. What they learned is that low-level offenders who were not prosecuted for the offenses were 60% less likely to reoffend over the next two years. A University of Michigan study found that for every quarter of a year a person spends in jail, the likelihood of re-offending increases 4-7%.

For most of us, something doesn’t sit right about the lack of consequences for breaking the law described in the Boston scenario, but the data is clear that jail makes low-level offenders “harder” and more desperate.

At home, the Shelby County Jail is long past its prime with a growing number of inmate deaths and deplorable conditions for some inmates. The Shelby County Jail is a pre-trial facility meaning that its residents are still presumed innocent and have not yet been adjudicated guilty. Adding more non-violent offenders to the violent offender population is a risk to inmates and staff and a drain on an outdated 40-year-old facility.

Restorative justice programs limit an offender’s contact with the system, but still hold the offender accountable, and they have the potential to divert low-level offenders away from jail, which is intended primarily for alleged violent offenders awaiting trial.

What does Restorative Justice look like in practice?

Restorative justice programs vary widely across jurisdictions, but they have some things in common. As noted, involving the victim and the community in the process are key components. Other common aspects of restorative justice programs can include:

A focus on low-level offenders, typically juveniles or those18-26. Crimes like murder, rape, and abuse of a child are not part of traditional restorative justice efforts.
Both the victim and the responsible party must agree to participate.
Trained mediators work to facilitate a resolution. They hear from the victim and the responsible party.
A satisfactory resolution to the victim and the responsible party may be multifaceted. It may require an apology, financial restitution, community service, or a variety and combination of remedies.
Either the victim or the responsible party may decline to accept the terms, which can put the case back on the prosecutorial track.
Responsible parties explain what led them to commit the offense. Based on the response, the responsible party is referred immediately to services that may help mitigate the underlying cause.
If the responsible party complies with all the terms and stays out of trouble for a prescribed period, then charges are often dismissed, and in some cases can be permanently expunged.

How is Restorative Justice rooted in the Bible?

In 2017, the Colson Center, Prison Fellowship International, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the National Association of Evangelicals – not exactly pillars of progressivism – released a white paper and The Justice Declaration in which they grieve mass incarceration that has defined American criminal justice. The Declaration and the white paper address many aspects of the criminal justice system and how Christians should respond, but relative to restorative justice [though not referred to as restorative justice], the paper says this:

“Alternative sentencing options that lead to improved outcomes are often overlooked. In some cases, suspended sentences, probation, fines, restitution, community service, or other programs prove to be far more successful, less expensive, and better at reducing recidivism than prison sentences, while still providing an effective deterrent to crime. In the Old Testament, Israel’s most common means of punishment was restitution. [Emphasis added] In our current context, appropriate, community-based alternative sentencing permits individuals to pay their debt to society while they hold paying jobs, go to school, support their families, and contribute meaningfully to society. The importance of maintaining individuals’ connection to their communities, whenever possible and safe cannot be overstated…”

As noted in the statement, Old Testament verses underscore the need for restitution and for making things right with the aggrieved party. Exodus 22:2-4, Leviticus 6:4-6, and Number 5:5-6 describe a model in which the responsible party is not only required to return what he took, but in most cases must add a fifth of its value to the amount returned to the victim. The responsible party then took an animal sacrifice to the priest to make atonement, and then he was restored to the community.

But the principle of restitution and restoration doesn’t just lay in the Old Testament verses, restorative justice tenets are found throughout the New Testament. For example, in Matthew 5-23-26, Jesus says,

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”

The New Testament text calls on the offender to reconcile with the victim and to do it quickly to avoid prison. Restitution and attempts at reconciliation are at the core of many restorative justice initiatives, but it is also notable that the offense alluded to is nonviolent.

But the biblical case for restorative justice doesn’t end with these few verses.

The Hebrew word shalom and its derivatives appear in the Old Testament around 350 times. In the New Testament the Greek word for shalom appears more than 90 times. Shalom is translated in Scripture as “peace,” but its actual meaning is more than just the absence of conflict. Shalom encompasses peace with God, peace with others, and peace with oneself. As Prison Fellowship International puts it, Shalom “expresses God’s vision for his kingdom where we live in right relationship with God, our neighbor and all creation.” Throughout Scripture we are told directly or by example to strive for peace (Matthew 5:9), restore relationships (Luke 17:3-4), and to live righteously (Philippians 4:8-9) – each command consistent with the concepts of restorative justice.

But even more compelling for the Christian is the enormous sacrifice made to restore us to a right relationship with God. Jesus died on the cross because of our offenses against God. Jesus is the restitution for all time. He paid it on behalf of all who believe. (I Peter 1: 18-19, Psalm 49:7-8, et al.).

Restorative justice is an important tool for fighting crime. Like every crime-mitigating tool it is not a panacea, but it is a method bolstered by scientific research and grounded in a faith that worships an almighty God, and that makes it worthy of our consideration.