What We Do

What is Restorative Justice?

Restorative justice is a structured process that invites all persons involved in a crime or conflict to have an equal voice in repairing all harms of the incident to the greatest extent possible.

How Does it Work?

Victims with their support people
&
Volunteer Community Members
&
Offenders with their support people

Come together and are guided by
Trained Faciliatators through a three step process

Offender(s) tell what he/she did and why
Victim(s) and other participants tell how they were affected by what happened
Together, create a plan to repair the harm

How is Restorative Justice Different?

In the conventional criminal justice system approach, when a crime is committed, three questions are typically asked:

Who did it?
What laws were broken?
How will we punish the offender?

Professor of Restorative Justice at Eastern Mennonite University's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding Howard Zehr proposed that if we are to shift to a restorative way of thinking, three different questions should be asked when a crime is committed:

What is the harm?
What needs to be done to repair the harm?
Who is responsible for this repair?

Retributive Justice	Restorative Justice
Offense is thought to be violation of law.	Offense is thought to be harmful to another person and the community.
Approach is based upon debate and opposition.	Approach is based on dialogue and negotiation.
Goal is to give punishment & equivalent pain.	Goal is to restore all parties to harmony.
Community is represented by the courts.	Community participates in the process.
Offender is punished and often does not take responsibility for harmful actions.	Offender accepts responsibility for harm done and takes action to repair the harm.
Depends on professionals for outcome.	Depends upon participation by all parties involved-a partnership.
Victims’ concerns are considered last.	Victims are central to the repair plan.

Who Does Restorative Justice Serve?

Restorative Justice Principles --- National Institute of Corrections

Crime is an offense against human relationships.
Victims and the community are central to justice processes.
The first priority of justice processes is to assist victims.
The second priority is to restore the community to the degree possible.
The offender has personal responsibility to victims and to the community for crimes committed.
Stakeholders share responsibilities for restorative justice through partnerships for action.
The offender will develop improved competency and understanding as a result of the restorative justice experience.

Does Restorative Justice Work?

In 2010...

184 Offenders participated in Community Restorative Justice

90 % of these offenders completed their contracts = 165 total completed contracts

38 % of Offenders from Latino community

7 % of offenders re-offend =recidivism rate

97 % satisfaction by all participants Community Restorative Justice Processes.

$380,000 2010 Operating Budget of LCJP

$4,445,000 Cost to house 165 inmates for a year.

Información en Español

Muchos de los servicios ofrecidos por la Asociación Servicios Para la comunidad estan disponibles en Español. Si usted necesista copias de estos materiales haga el favor de comunicarse con nuestra oficina. Estamos tratando de tener estos materiales disponibles en internet. La oficina de la Asociación Servicios Para la Comunidad tiene empleados que hablan en Español para asistirle a usted. Por favor llame al 303.651.8879 o mande un correo electrónico a info@lcjp.org para comunicarse con nuestros empleados.