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pinned down that she will be there for him when he is released in 2009. Both offenders they have told Ward-Kaiser they are sorry for what they did. She also fought for the shooter to receive life without parole rather than execution, because she does not believe in the death penalty.
“What they did warranted consequences,” she says, “but not vengeance. Vengeance is an eye for an eye, while justice is, you have consequences and you pay for your actions.”
She adds, “There is no peace in vengeance.”
While Avila was out on bail in 1992, he attended a Salvation Army adult rehabilitation center and realized the deep impact of his drunken actions on Amy Wall’s family. About the same time, he learned about RJ, which stresses the importance of offenders taking full responsibility for their harmful actions. So he chose to plead guilty, rather than deny his responsibility for Amy’s death. Even if he could not restore her life, he could accept the consequences for taking it. During his incarceration, he facilitated RJ groups for other prisoners so that “they can at least make peace with themselves,” he says.
The Wall family has not yet chosen to meet with him. Avila understands and accepts their choice, although at first he wondered if he could begin his own restoration without it. “I asked God, do I go on without that?” he says. “Then I realized that God’s redeeming grace starts now.”
Spiritual aspects present but not overt
Despite its Mennonite origins and the participation of many religious people, Umbreit stresses RJ is not an overtly religious or spiritual program. Even though some victims, offenders, and mediators see it as a way to live their religion, as do Ward-Kaiser and Avila, other participants have no such desire. Bringing up a religious or spiritual aspect during RJ mediation without first receiving cues from participants can damage the process, according to Umbreit. It “can be offensive and might not make people feel safe and secure” during meetings, he explains.
However, Umbreit, who “honors the truth and ways of Buddhism and many other religions,” says a broad spirituality is inherently present in RJ, even when it’s not specifically named. “With deep Restorative Justice, it’s getting more to the hearts and minds of the people,” he says. “It operates from the paradigm of healing rather than fixing. It’s inseparable from the search for meaning of victims and communities, and offenders, too.”
Other RJ and VORP mediators agree with Umbreit, despite their own religious or spiritual orientation.
Ron Claassen, co-director of the Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies at Fresno Pacific College, where Ward-Kaiser and Avila learned about RJ, is a Mennonite. He sees RJ’s spirituality resulting from its emphasis on the possibility of reconciliation. From his perspective, reconciliation is “the heart and center within spirituality and the hope that there is a possibility of repairing harm.”
At the same time, reconciliation also requires offenders to be accountable for the harm they have caused. Claassen says accountability is “when persons acknowledge the harm they did and take on the responsibility to repair that and do something different in the future,” he explains.
Meeting with a victim “can be some of the hardest accountability a criminal will ever experience,” adds Umbreit, “even more than prison.” Meeting their victims personalizes their harmful actions more than any prison term ever could – “Imagine meeting the woman you shot in the face during a robbery,” says Umbreit – and can begin the healing on both sides.
With reconciliation can come restoration, which can also be considered in a spiritual light. Claassen paraphrases Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, saying, “He uses the language of ‘any time there’s been a violation or disrespectful act toward another, dignity has been hurt on both sides.’
“The restoring here is a process of restoring dignity,” he adds. “Other things can be restored – individuals, relationships, damaged property – but all of it is connected to restoring dignity.”
Walt Friesen is now a mediator and trainer for VORP in San Joaquin County, Calif., after 30 years’ employment with the California Youth Authority. He describes how the RJ process helps restore dignity to victims. In the traditional justice system, “no one pays attention to them,” he says. “But with VORP, victims have the opportunity to confront the offender and ask them questions. Why did you do this to me? How long were you watching me? They have the opportunity to say what’s on their mind and have some say in what’s to be done. It gives them a sense of involvement and closure. It gives them their power back, and some control. They get the satisfaction of seeing the offender acknowledge that he made a mistake and will make things right.”
Offenders can have their dignity restored as well. “One of the requirements [in RJ] is to admit they did it,” says Friesen. “This gives them something to participate in. Lots of times, kids go to court and their lawyer says to say
“What they did warranted consequences,” she says, “but not vengeance. Vengeance is an eye for an eye, while justice is, you have consequences and you pay for your actions.”
She adds, “There is no peace in vengeance.”
While Avila was out on bail in 1992, he attended a Salvation Army adult rehabilitation center and realized the deep impact of his drunken actions on Amy Wall’s family. About the same time, he learned about RJ, which stresses the importance of offenders taking full responsibility for their harmful actions. So he chose to plead guilty, rather than deny his responsibility for Amy’s death. Even if he could not restore her life, he could accept the consequences for taking it. During his incarceration, he facilitated RJ groups for other prisoners so that “they can at least make peace with themselves,” he says.
The Wall family has not yet chosen to meet with him. Avila understands and accepts their choice, although at first he wondered if he could begin his own restoration without it. “I asked God, do I go on without that?” he says. “Then I realized that God’s redeeming grace starts now.”
Spiritual aspects present but not overt
Despite its Mennonite origins and the participation of many religious people, Umbreit stresses RJ is not an overtly religious or spiritual program. Even though some victims, offenders, and mediators see it as a way to live their religion, as do Ward-Kaiser and Avila, other participants have no such desire. Bringing up a religious or spiritual aspect during RJ mediation without first receiving cues from participants can damage the process, according to Umbreit. It “can be offensive and might not make people feel safe and secure” during meetings, he explains.
However, Umbreit, who “honors the truth and ways of Buddhism and many other religions,” says a broad spirituality is inherently present in RJ, even when it’s not specifically named. “With deep Restorative Justice, it’s getting more to the hearts and minds of the people,” he says. “It operates from the paradigm of healing rather than fixing. It’s inseparable from the search for meaning of victims and communities, and offenders, too.”
Other RJ and VORP mediators agree with Umbreit, despite their own religious or spiritual orientation.
Ron Claassen, co-director of the Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies at Fresno Pacific College, where Ward-Kaiser and Avila learned about RJ, is a Mennonite. He sees RJ’s spirituality resulting from its emphasis on the possibility of reconciliation. From his perspective, reconciliation is “the heart and center within spirituality and the hope that there is a possibility of repairing harm.”
At the same time, reconciliation also requires offenders to be accountable for the harm they have caused. Claassen says accountability is “when persons acknowledge the harm they did and take on the responsibility to repair that and do something different in the future,” he explains.
Meeting with a victim “can be some of the hardest accountability a criminal will ever experience,” adds Umbreit, “even more than prison.” Meeting their victims personalizes their harmful actions more than any prison term ever could – “Imagine meeting the woman you shot in the face during a robbery,” says Umbreit – and can begin the healing on both sides.
With reconciliation can come restoration, which can also be considered in a spiritual light. Claassen paraphrases Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, saying, “He uses the language of ‘any time there’s been a violation or disrespectful act toward another, dignity has been hurt on both sides.’
“The restoring here is a process of restoring dignity,” he adds. “Other things can be restored – individuals, relationships, damaged property – but all of it is connected to restoring dignity.”
Walt Friesen is now a mediator and trainer for VORP in San Joaquin County, Calif., after 30 years’ employment with the California Youth Authority. He describes how the RJ process helps restore dignity to victims. In the traditional justice system, “no one pays attention to them,” he says. “But with VORP, victims have the opportunity to confront the offender and ask them questions. Why did you do this to me? How long were you watching me? They have the opportunity to say what’s on their mind and have some say in what’s to be done. It gives them a sense of involvement and closure. It gives them their power back, and some control. They get the satisfaction of seeing the offender acknowledge that he made a mistake and will make things right.”
Offenders can have their dignity restored as well. “One of the requirements [in RJ] is to admit they did it,” says Friesen. “This gives them something to participate in. Lots of times, kids go to court and their lawyer says to say
