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Founded in California in 2001 by Lisa M. Rea, the Justice & Reconciliation Project (JRP) is a national 501(c) (3) nonprofit corporation.
JRP was founded on two premises:
- First, we believe that the existing criminal justice system fails crime victims, offenders, and communities largely due to its misplaced focus. When a crime is committed, the system treats it as a crime against the state rather than as an offense against a specific individual who has been harmed. The system does not seek to "make right" the wrong committed against a victim by an offender, nor does it acknowledge the injury inflicted on the community where the crime was committed. No one is truly held directly accountable to the victim, and the offender is warehoused in a correctional facility, apart from the community. Under such a system, the injury to the victim and the community is forgotten, and the need for restoration and healing is ignored. In its wake, this system leaves victims who are scarred and angry, offenders who are likely to relapse into criminal behavior once released from prison, and communities that are left with fearful citizens.
- Second, we believe that the criminal justice system will remain broken as long as the voices of those who are working towards healing and restoration are drowned out by traditional tough-on-crime rhetoric. Policies driven by this rhetoric have provided little real relief for victims; their questions, needs, and scars remain. Change can only be articulated by the voices of victims who have the moral standing to challenge such rhetoric and who can offer workable alternatives.
Our work has revealed that many crime victims are unhappy about how they have been treated by the system and are open to new ways of responding to crime. Indeed, some of these victims have been reconciled with their offenders despite the obstacles created by the justice system. Increasing numbers of victims are willing to tell their stories to promote reconciliation and restoration, and growing numbers are interested in exploring opportunities to establish a dialogue with their offenders. By organizing and raising up these voices, JRP believes that the retributive tenor of the public debate on criminal justice policies can be transformed, leading to a system that promotes restoration and changed lives.
In recent years, some groups around the country and internationally have worked to promote a new vision called restorative justice, with an emphasis on policies that restore the victim, acknowledge that the community has been harmed by crime, hold the offender directly accountable to the victim, and bring the offender to a point of remorse. Applying the principles of restorative justice results in sentencing options requiring offender accountability through community-based corrections for some offenders and encourages restitution and victim-offender reconciliation programs. By holding offenders accountable and by taking steps to restore victims and communities, the "shalom" that was broken can begin to be restored. Additionally, offenders can learn to take responsibility for their actions, dramatically reducing their chances of re-offending.
JRP believes that the best way to achieve its goals is to work in coalition with others who share our vision and goals. Please contact us for more information if you are interested in partnering with us. We also gladly welcome monetary contributions, which are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
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