Testimonials & Heart Stories
- Stories of Restorative Justice Circles
A young mother on her first day back to work after maternity leave made a split second decision in traffic that resulted in the death of 42 year old motorcyclist. A district court judge asked LCJP to convene a peacemaking circle to make recommendations to the court for sentencing. Before the circle began the facilitator introduced the father of the victim to the offender. She extended her hand, which he ignored and instead gave her a bear hug and told her that they had been very worried about her. The parents of the motorcyclist were very compassionate and wanted to find a way for this young woman to move on in her life. The two adult children were very angry and one refused to attend. The one who attended began the process with only anger and later was able to move between compassion and anger. The offender paid $4,000 for the victim's funeral. She did presentations to high school students as a part of driver's education and was so effective that she later made a video to be used as a part of the curriculum. The circle participants struggled to strike a balance whereby the offender could continue to work, be a new mom and complete over 100 hours of community service. All of the recommendations were accepted by the court, and both the offender and victim's family were satisfied.
- The parents of a teenage girl brought her to the Longmont Police Department after finding stolen clothing in her possession. Her father was so angry at her he literally threw the back pack full of stolen clothing at his daughter. At the conference the entire family was in tears, recalling this outburst, the first time he had ever "hit" his child. The young offender got a job and presented $110 (twice the value of the stolen items) to the Inn Between (a homeless center) to buy clothing for the resident children. She has never reoffended.
- Two young men, 9 and 10 years old, broke into a neighbor's Winnebago motor home and vandalized the interior and stole some items. Their parents refused to pay for their wrongdoing and agreed to sell their bicycles and Nintendo's in order to pay for their neighbors' insurance deductible. They hated selling their stuff and told the neighbors' if they ever found an open vehicle again they would knock on the door and tell someone to lock it.
- After a huge snowstorm, a young man was driving down Main Street with a car full of kids. They were swerving into piles of snow and making big splashes. They decided to splash some people on the sidewalk and soaked them to the bone. The people were very scared of being hurt by the car itself and the car behind them was shocked by the reckless driving and reported the incident to police. The young man reluctantly agreed to do 120 hours of community service with people who had been disabled in car accidents. He only agreed to this because if he went to court he would have likely lost his drivers license and faced sky-high insurance premiums when he got his license back. Before doing his community service he wrote an unacceptable apology letter to the victim in which her blamed the incident on "poor road conditions". He was advised to complete his community service before rewriting the letter. In his service experience he formed a relationship with a man who had lost the use of his legs in an auto accident. The man was forced to live in an assisted care facility, which he "hated everything about". Through this relationship the offender came to appreciate the serious effects that poor driving decisions can have. In the second apology letter he eloquently spoke of his remorse and how he "knowing what I know now, would never do this again". After he completed his service, he continued to visit his new friend.
- A 14 year-old girl and four 14 year-old boys broke into a house and stole some liquor. The boys choose to go through the traditional court system and the girl attended a community group conference. She told the circle that she didn't know how to say "no" to the boys. As one condition of her agreement, she studied assertiveness and decision-making and wrote her own strategies for how she could say "no" in the future. She also completed a ride-a-long with the Longmont Police and paid for the broken window.
- A senior in high school stole a package of socks from a department store for his back to school wardrobe. He didn't want to bother his mother who was going through a divorce by asking her for money. As a part of his agreement the young man took a leadership role in organizing weekly family dinners and journaling after each dinner. Another part of his agreement stated that he attend four community group conferences. In each of these conferences this young man made a huge difference by addressing the other offenders about crime and its relation to self-esteem. His 10 hours of community service was self-extended to a whole semester of coaching a soccer team.
- A senior in high school bought a fake ID in another state and used it to buy liquor. She was captain of the cheerleading team and a role model for the school. She chose to speak to the entire school the night before homecoming about the impact of her actions. We understand that many fake ID's were destroyed that night and much less drinking went on at homecoming that year.
- An 11 year-old boy was caught vandalizing and stealing Christmas decorations in a neighbor's yard. The neighbor's son tackled and held the boy until the police arrived. As it turned out there were other vandals in the neighborhood who were destroying Christmas decorations. The victims ended up befriending the young vandal who helped them take down their Christmas decorations and, in the process, he learned about the importance of the decorations to the family.
- A large 9 year-old boy performed a "pile-driver" wrestling move on a smaller 10 year-old in the playground at school. The smaller student was dropped on his head and sustained a fracture in his neck. It was apparent to the participants that the offender's family had very few resources. The offender's mother said she could not afford to pay for the boy to participate in the city league football program, which was suggested by the circle as an outlet for this boy's aggression. The victim's father, who coached a city league team, was moved and made it possible for his son's assailant to join his team.
- Testimonials from Participants“Everyone was kind and accepting” Offender - shoplifting program, 2007
It was good to hear every side of what my actions did to affect people and community” Offender - shoplifting program, 2007
I think this helps them respect the system.” – Victim 2007
“I enjoyed it very much. Everyone talked” Offender, 2007
“I like that everyone had and equal amount of time. I was able to say what I wanted and communicate my point” Offender, 2007
“It was great, finding positive and productive solutions that went to a deeper core & applied to many areas of life (personal, family etc)” Community Member - 2007
“The most valuable part of the workshop was getting the chance to let others redeem themselves” Merchant - shoplifting program, 2007
“Everyone was kind and accepting” Offender - shoplifting program. 2007
“It helped me to realize how actually lucky I was to get this chance to come here” Merchant shoplifting program, 2007
“I feel I came out of the group a better person” … Community member, 2006
“Really enjoy the whole package, the stories, all of it. Very Safe environment” Participant 2006
“Officer Deaton was very kind, compassionate & respectful throughout this process” Offender’s parent October 2006
“I am so impressed by this whole process. What a wonderful program to have available in this community to promote responsibility peace & compassion and hopefully prevent the offender from re- offending THANK YOU!” Offender’s parent, October 2006
“I was very pleased that the officer was willing to present a gun safety class for the boys” Grandmother of Offender. October 2006
“This experience was helpful to understand all sides” Grandmother of Offender. October 2006
“LCJP was good what they did and how they handled this case” Offender, October 2006
“I think that I learned a lot from this and I will benefit from this in the future” Offender, October 2006.
“I knew these people could help me and I was safe” Offender, 2006
“I was surprised how the kids stepped up and come together in the end” Offender’s parent. 2006
“I am thankful that this process exists to turn this into a positive in the end” Offender’s parent. 2006
“It’s rewarding to see resolution come through in a positive way” Community Member 2006
“Officer Taylor handled the special needs of our students very well” – School staff, 2006
“The facilitator was amazing!” – Police Officer 2006
“What I like the best were the conversations-hearing ideas, thoughts & comments”…Participant Workshop 2006
“I really like the interaction of different stands from the Community” Participant Workshop 2006
