by Jan Peter Dembinski, Esq.
Restorative Justice—
Time to Take it Seriously?
In this article, I will address a variety of
issues concerning restorative justice in Vermont: what it is, whether it is effective,
whether it is taken seriously in Vermont,
how it became a statutory policy for our
criminal justice system, its potential scope
in Vermont’s criminal justice system, the
present flood of plea bargaining in criminal justice, and why it is time to take restorative justice seriously as a means of restoring criminal justice in Vermont.
What is Restorative Justice?
While some readers of the Vermont Bar
Journal may be well aware of what restorative justice is and how effective it can be, I
am certain many have only a vague or partial grasp of it—even though 28 V.S.A. § 2a
proclaims, “It is the policy of this state that
principles of restorative justice be included
in shaping how the criminal justice system
responds to persons charged with or convicted of criminal offenses.”
Restorative justice is the theory that
shapes processes in which those impacted by a crime or harmful event share how
they have been affected by it and what
can be done to restore their lives. This includes directly impacted persons, the perpetrators, and often various supporters of
both the impacted persons and the perpetrators, and, generally, community representatives indirectly impacted. After the
preliminary sharing and disclosures, restoration contracts are discussed and, ideally, agreed upon. Perpetrators must reveal what they were thinking at the time of
their harmful actions and must be open to
effecting restoration of the impacted persons according to their needs. Community
supporters and family of both the impacted parties and the perpetrator may be allowed to be—or need to be—part of a restorative justice process to express how
they have been affected by the actions of
the perpetrators and to provide realistic input as to the viability of conceived restoration agreements. All parties participate
voluntarily. Depending on the seriousness
of the offense and the parties’ needs, a
restorative justice process can take hours
or extend over days. Facilitators of the restorative process must initially determine if
the responsible party acknowledges committing the offending action and is willing
to talk about it. Facilitators must also become aware of the attitudes and vulnerabilities of all the parties before commenc20
ing a proce