45°
Communities for Restorative Justice (C4RJ) is partnering with the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office to provide an alternative to the court system. It's called restorative justice and it's kind of like doing community service to atone for causing harm - but without the perpetrator being charged with a crime.
“Restorative justice provides an alternative to the criminal justice process,” said Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan. It enables “the community to take part in its own restoration.”
With restorative justice, people who would normally be in trouble with the law for something minor can admit to their wrong-doing prior to charges being filed and then devise a method of restoration that satisfies the police, the community, the victim, and the person who caused trouble.
An example of this would be if someone were found vandalizing a monument, instead of being charged for a crime, the person could clean up the graffiti and possibly other acts of destruction around town.
Police departments that have agreed to participate in the expanded restorative justice program include Amherst, Easthampton, Hadley, Northampton, South Hadley, and Ware. The DA will also participate, meaning that like the police, it too can refer people to the program.
Hampshire County has had a restorative justice program for a while, but it was mostly confined to juveniles, Sullivan said.
The expansion of the program to adults is possible through the C4RJ partnership. The Massachusetts-based nonprofit helps to facilitate resolutions. It is active in at least 25 communities.
Participating police departments can start referring people to C4RJ in early 2021, the DA said.
“There are numerous reasons why people commit crimes,” said Ware Police Chief Shawn Crevier. “Restorative justice is an important addition to the options our community has to respond.”
Click here to follow Daily Voice Hartford and receive free news updates.
