| Testimonials & Heart Stories |
|
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“Restorative Justice is the most cost effective way to resolve these crimes.”
“This was handled very well and with great care for all involved.”
“Presenting my view and the impact on the company was empowering. I am happy to see the community has a program like this.”
This process gives the kids another chance. It let me see the other side of the victim. It brought everyone together to work out the issue. We learned a lot from this.”
“I never knew how what I did could hurt somebody else. And I never knew so many people cared about me.”
Restorative Justice is a great way for kids and adults to raise their heads high above their mistakes.”
“I was extremely impressed and moved by the safety, honesty and healing that occurred.” |
