By CLAIRE ASTONE
Welcome to Brandon Restorative Action for Victims and Offenders (BRAVO). Let’s talk for a bit about this unusual name for a town committee in Brandon and what actually happens within the workings of this group of volunteers.
What we do is something called Restorative Justice (RJ). If the words are understood individually, you might be amazed at how much you already know about these ideas.
Restorative: This is a word you may not use much but it is something almost all of us do. We restore or bring new life back to something of value or worth to us. How about that vintage car, the garden in spring, repairing a child’s bike that’s been forgotten all winter in the snow, new zipper in the old-but-still-good coat? Repairing fences comes to mind or that especially fun job of putting the fallen rocks back into something like a wall. What is it that kids say to a parent? Can you fix this for me? This is the idea of restoration and it is a part of our lives throughout the year. We do it because we believe in the value of the work necessary.
Justice. Probably not a part of our everyday lives unless maybe you might be presiding over the courtroom, holding the gavel, in the justice system itself. But maybe there is a way to talk or think about justice that we might mostly be willing to agree to.
The first idea that comes to mind for many is the notion of fairness and perhaps that people get what they deserve. We may often think that something happened which was negative or even horrible and we want “justice” or fairness or to make it right or better. It may also be about the notion that we want justice to be something that is available to all persons and situations. The idea that although we know people and situations are not perfect, there is a way or a means for things to be worked out in what ends up being fair to all parties. Perhaps even a resulting peace.
Some simple words with big ideas could find themselves here: integrity, goodness, a fair shake, impartiality, evenhandedness, honor, righteousness, doing the right thing are some examples.
Now let me try and connect these two very different words together with their meaning. Restorative justice (RJ), is what we try to bring to the community when someone has been arrested and often someone or something has been harmed. We work toward a sense of justice in that there is a fairness for all involved. An agreement of a final acceptance of outcomes. That the person harmed feels made whole again by the actions and behaviors of that very same individual that created the harm. This is what draws us to this work.
We are invested in this service as one in which we attempt to restore balance and a better reconciliation between the person harmed and the person who inflicted the harm. Not cars, not toys, not fences. We try to facilitate the restoration and justice into the room and between the parties so that the individuals and the community might remain safe and respectful and hopeful. We do this by asking that people tell their stories. What did they experience? How does the person harmed feel? Was fear created? Was there a dollar amount of damage that needs to be addressed? What might be of support to them and what outcomes do they wish to see come from this process of RJ?
We ask what happened with the respondent to create this situation. Are there other options or decisions that could have been chosen? Was there pressure or perceived need for this negative act to unfold? How does it feel to be here and listening to the impacts of your choices and behavior? What might make this situation better and how might you move forward? How have your choices impacted you and your family and your community?
This is some of the process facilitated by the committee persons (called a panel) as the main focus of the work to explore. To reach consensus and most importantly to facilitate the repair or restoration which might be put into place to contribute to healing and a sense of justice. This might be where you could think about the “sentence fitting the crime.” Creating and completing significant tasks given back to create the just balance of things.
I hope this helps to provide a basis for your understanding of what happens when the involved parties meet with us. However, I need to be fair and state that often, the persons harmed do not wish to participate, which is their choice. We do provide this process and options to the person affected. Sometimes they may choose to share what they would like to see happen or be learned. It may be an apology in writing and/or to know what was decided between the panel and the respondent. Last year, during a statewide conference with RJ communities across Vermont, we were surprised that our experience of not having a victim in the room with the respondent is more often the case than not. We do not force or pressure people to attend. We do however explain that this is often an experience where their voice, anger and hurt can be shared and heard, but again, it’s each person’s choice. We respect that.
The cases we get do come from our Brandon Chief of Police. He is able to speak with a State’s Attorney in Rutland County and has input into the course of the case. We are not offered felonies. Those automatically are sent to the court system. When we receive a case, we contact both parties and explain the process to them. The respondent must be willing to accept responsibility for RJ to occur. If this does not happen, the case automatically goes to the court system. We arrange schedules and a place of privacy to ensure confidentiality and move forward. Generally, it will take at least three sessions to get through the process. The story is created during the process and we document them as shared by the participants, the work which will be written as a contract and which requires completion by the respondent and proof of outcomes. These reparations are very dependent upon the age of the person who is sitting with us. Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. We have seen youth as young as 11 and over the past few years most of our cases have involved youth. With a successful completion and justice served, the case is considered closed and sealed. There is no court involvement. The debt is paid. Hope for the future has a path forward.
Here is how restoration may be experienced in your world and in ours within BRAVO. You start with some ideas and perhaps some notion of how things might move ahead. A plan. But things almost never go as you planned. This is the challenge and the great joy you get to experience, when in spite of all odds, you have helped shape and complete the process at hand. You have made something whole again. And for us it might be an angry kid who doesn’t want to speak and has an attitude larger than any you can remember from your own adolescence. Or a person harmed, hurt, and experiencing a lack of trust. But there is a moment when it becomes clear, and you know that your training—being a good and fair listener, holding the group to being respectful even when it looks like it all may blow up, a sense of humor which helps almost everything, and a genuine caring and integrity that has been displayed throughout—supports the process to a beautiful ending. Our goal is building relationships and helping to create trust and an understanding that a mistake does not need to take you out of your community, or define you, or destroy your future. People are precious, and who does not deserve a second chance?
Gratitude from BRAVO. To be a part of this community, to serve and support the process of reshaping lives and building peace in our community is our mission.
Please visit the new BRAVO website under the Committes section on the Town of Brandon website.
Gratefully and respectfully submitted,
Claire Astone
Chair, BRAVO
