Parole in the U.S. Justice System: Does Restorative Justice Apply Here?
RJI links the following article from the Washington Post which was written by The Marshall Project. We found this article excellent in its thoroughness as well as troubling. As RJI works for systemic change of our justice systems we acknowledge the great need to apply restorative justice to all parts of those systems including the treatment of offenders who are serving time in prison. Sentencing and decisions related to parole must be fair, just and transparent.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-power-and-politics-of-parole-boards/2015/07/10/49c1844e-1f71-11e5-84d5-eb37ee8eaa61_story.html
Victims of violent crime we work with at RJI support restorative justice and its application to the entire justice system. Some of those victims of violent crime, including murder victims’ family members, have met their offenders through the use of restorative justice (or a victim offender dialogue). If a victim or victim’s family member supports the release of an offender from prison when he is up for parole this fact should be considered seriously by any parole board or other authority.
To review some cases of victims of violent crime who support restorative justice refer to posts and articles on RJI’s news blog. We also post such items at Restorative Justice International’s social media hub at LinkedIn.
Restorative justice should apply to sentencing and decisions related to the parole of any offender serving open ended sentences.
This is Lisa Rea for Restorative Justice International.