Restoring Justice
An excerpt from the July-August 1997 newsletter for Catholic Justice and Corrections Ministries in CaliforniaTHE CATHOLIC CENTER FOR RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
CONTRASTING PARADIGMS
Retributive Justice
Crime is a violation of the state, defined by law breaking and guilt. Justice determines blame and administers pain in a contest between the offender and the state directed by systematic rules.Restorative Justice
Crime is a violation of people and relationships. It creates obligations to make things right. Justice involves the victim, the offender, and the community in a search for solutions which promote repair, reconciliation and reassurance.Offenders must be held accountable, but so too must society. Society must be accountable to victims, helping to identify and meet their needs. Likewise, the larger community must attend to the needs of offenders, seeking not simply to restore but to transform. Accountability is multidimensional and transformational.
Justice has to do with shalom relationships and thus is fundamental to what God is about, to who God is, and to what we are to be. In fact, justice serves as a measuring stick to test for shalom!
Biblical justice decidedly was not a forensic inquiry into wrongdoing to establish guilt and decide what punishment was merited. Rather, Biblical justice was an attempt to right wrongs, to find solutions that would bring about well being.
RESTORING JUSTICE
Charles Eddy, editor
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