A group of some 50 prisoners joined a mixed selection of visitors in the Catholic Chapel recently to participate in a restorative justice workshop and an introduction to Circle Processes. The prisoners ranged from first-time participants to skilled veteran “Circle-Keepers” who participate in twice-monthly meetings of the Interfaith Round Table.
“Circle process is about sharing and solving conflicts as a community,” says Sujatha, a visiting Circle Keeper, and facilitator of the April 24 workshop. “Everyone has a voice and in the circle, everyone is allowed to speak and be heard.”
Father Kirk, sponsor of the Interfaith Round Table, spoke in depth about restorative justice. “With restoration at the heart of the system, victims’ needs are centrally addressed.” This is in contrast to the current retributive model that uses victims as a tool to obtain guilty verdicts, Fr. Kirk pointed out.
Restorative justice models have been implemented in other parts of the world. New Zealand in the 1980s had one of the worst juvenile offense records in the world, and it was rising.
After implementing restorative, circle processes, New Zealand is now closing some of its adult institutions. “They are running out of people to put in prison,” said Sujath. Locally, facilities such as the San Bruno Juvenile Detention Center have used restorative models with admirable results.
Throughout the day long workshop the feeling of interfaith cooperation was reinforced through the sharing of prayers. Members of six different faith groups shared prayers in the spirit of community and commonality.
“It was a truly liberating experience,” said one H-Unit inmate. “For awhile, we weren’t a bunch of people in blue and people from the streets, we were all the same, and it felt great.”