WILLIAMSVILLE — When I teach writing to inmates, I don't know what my students are in jail for; it's better that way. I see them only as men with poems to sing.
But last year, I had a student who didn't want to sit in a room with sex offenders. When I told a co-worker, she said, “That's interesting. You know what he's in for, don't you?”
“No, and I'm not sure I want to,” I said.
“It was a very big story,” she said. “He killed his father.”
I looked up the details online. They're horrific.
In my search, I also found a case study comparing restorative and retributive justice in two instances of patricide. The study was written as a capstone presentation for a master's degree in mediation and conflict studies at the Woodbury Institute at Champlain College by Vermonter Patricia McIntosh.
In it, McIntosh compares two youthful offenders - one from Vermont (my student) and one from New Zealand - and the two very different methods by which they were brought to justice for almost identical crimes committed under very similar circumstances.
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Both young men grew up in small, rural towns. Both were children of divorced parents. Both had abusive fathers. And both had committed felony-level crimes when they were still boys.
But that's not all: In both cases, neighbors knew of the paternal abuse and did not intervene - nor did state or local protective services.
At ages 16 and 14, the Vermonter and New Zealander, respectively, killed their fathers with shotguns. Both boys were charged with murder. And this is where their stories diverge.
The Vermonter went through the traditional - punitive - American criminal justice system. He pled guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 22 years to life in prison.
The New Zealander's extended family petitioned the court to participate in Restorative Justice, a worldwide practice that differs enormously from the punitive form of criminal justice we're most familiar with in the United States. They held a Family Group Conference, which included the offender, his family, the victim's family, a social worker, and the police. Together, they worked out what this boy had to do to repair the harm he'd done.
He was sentenced to two years of supervision while living within his extended family. Additionally, he was required to be home schooled, undergo psychological testing and counseling, have no access to firearms, and abstain from drugs and alcohol.
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So, how are they doing now?
The Vermonter is adjusting to prison life, which requires him to adopt a tough-guy stance in order to fend off more seasoned and predatory inmates. He now sports a swastika tattoo.
At $45,000 per year, the state of Vermont will invest nearly a million dollars to keep this man in jail. He will be 38 years old when he first becomes eligible for parole, by which time he will have spent half his life behind bars.
Adjusting to life on the outside is difficult for men who have spent less time in prison. Newly released inmates need a great deal of support to adjust successfully to life on the outside; few have had the skills before their jail stints and fewer still acquire them while on the inside. Additionally, they're often stigmatized and are rarely welcomed back to their communities. Many ex-offenders re-offend and land right back in jail.
The New Zealander, on the other hand, has completed his education and has a job working for the New Zealand forest service. In his early 20s, he's now a productive and contributing member of his family, tribe, and larger community.
He has not re-offended in any way.
Vermont leads the nation in the use of Restorative Justice for nonviolent offenders. There are 14 community justice centers in Vermont, including one in Brattleboro, where nonviolent offenders repair the harm they've caused without going to jail. The statistics prove this process works: those who go through it rarely re-offend. Indeed, those who participate typically become positive members of their communities as a result of being held accountable for their actions - and for repairing the harm they caused.
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When I taught inside Vermont's prisons, I learned how flawed jail time is as a way of changing criminal behavior. I sought alternative methods of criminal justice and discovered the Brattleboro Community Justice Center. BCJC teaches and administers Restorative Justice.
It's been several years since I began as a community justice volunteer. My personal experience confirms the data that Restorative Justice works and surpasses post-incarceration outcomes with wide margins by all measures. Restorative Justice improves our community by binding us, one-to-another, in a web of relationships that we all make an effort to maintain while upholding common standards of behavior.
International Restorative Justice is celebrated around the world during the month of November. Last year, the BCJC partnered with the Windham Arts Council to produce visual representations of justice that culminated in an art show at the River Garden.
This year, the BCJC is teaming up with the New England Youth Theater. NEYT has devoted its fall semester to an exploration of justice through drama. Their work will culminate in “The Quality of Mercy,” a showcase of dramatic scenes. Each performance will be followed by a talk-back with the actors, BCJC volunteers and the audience. The shows will run the weekends of Nov. 12-14 and 19-21 and promise to be both thought-provoking and entertaining.
I look forward to seeing many of you there.