By the age of fifteen, Jacob had been expelled from two schools and had skipped his GCSEs, a general certificate of secondary education. To him, education wasn’t important. Neither was family. What was? Living his life with a gang mentality—honoring the code of always defending the guys he hung out with.
A few years later, at the age of nineteen, on a July day in 2011, Jacob spent most of the day drinking with some friends and celebrating a mate’s birthday. Later that night, he got a call about a fight that was brewing. When he arrived, he found some of his buddies preparing to fight a young man. He had been returning home, along with his father, brother, and three friends, after watching a cricket match. Joining in, Jacob threw a punch, hitting the young man once on the head. Jacob then ran off, unaware of what happened after he left.
About a month later, the police rounded up and arrested Jacob’s buddies but released them. Then, the police arrested Jacob. James, the man that Jacob hit that July night, had died. The single blow left James bleeding in his brain. After an unsuccessful operation, he was put on life support. When his parents saw how their son could not breathe independently, they requested that he be taken off the ventilator. Nine days after the attack, James died.
At the trial, Jacob pleaded guilty. James’ mother, Joan, later said it was helpful that he entered a guilty plea, sparing her and her husband a painful trial. Jacob was sentenced to four years in prison for manslaughter. Imprisoned and furious, Jacob kept thinking of the friends he had gone to help. They had saved themselves by naming him. So, in Jacob’s mind, he was that night’s victim.
When Jacob was released after thirteen months on a lighter sentence because of his age and guilty plea, Joan felt angry that Jacob had served so little time. The short sentence would not deter others. All it did was compound her pain.
Two months after his release, Jacob’s probation officer asked if he had heard of restorative justice, a process through which the offender and the victim, or family members of a deceased victim, meet to share their experiences of what happened.
The approach could benefit both parties. The offender, in this instance, Jacob, could learn to take responsibility and make amends. The victim’s parents, Joan and David, could reduce their bitterness and sense of helplessness, and move toward healing. After learning that Joan and David had agreed to the process, which a third-party organization would mediate, Jacob also agreed.
Although the process did not initially involve face-to-face meetings, Joan and David did learn more about the man whose single blow had resulted in their son’s death
The mediators explained that Jacob, feeling betrayed by his friends, viewed himself as the victim. Joan and David were shocked by this revelation. Also, they found it astounding that he hadn’t been offered classes. There had been no opportunity for rehabilitation or reflection, no chance to change. Jacob’s time in prison had been wasted. Upon release, he was homeless, unemployed, struggling, and still angry.
When Jacob learned of Joan and David’s concern, he found himself invested in the mediation process. For the first time, he realized what they had gone through because of his actions. Realizing that he was not the victim, Jacob became overwhelmed with guilt. It was time to change. He got a job and began studying for his GCSE, which he passed. He then began studying to get into a university and was accepted into a program that would culminate in obtaining a degree in criminology. Throughout this time, Joan and David continued to encourage him.
Finally came the time when they were ready to meet Jacob face-to-face. He later admitted, “Opening the door into the room where both David and Joan were waiting was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life, but I knew how important it was that I looked them in the eye and told them how sorry I was.” He also thanked them for initiating their communication and for having the courage to meet him.
For their part, Joan and David were finally able to ask the all-important “Why?” Joan later said that she no longer felt bitter about Jacob’s short sentence and that, unlike prison, she and David had truly helped Jacob regret and reform. Seeing his progress, Joan added that previously she had felt that forgiving Jacob would mean she had forgotten her son. But forgiveness did not mean forgetting. It enabled her to let go of her bitterness and to finally be at peace.
This account shows how different entities and participants can view justice differently.
From the legal system’s perspective, it could be said that justice had been accomplished because the prescribed sentence for an offender who unintentionally killed someone and admitted guilt had been handed out and served. But from Joan and Jacob’s perspective, punishment was only a component of justice. Nothing had been done to help Jacob modify his behavior. When he left prison, he was even less equipped to lead a productive life than when he went in.
It was through the process of restorative justice that justice was found. Joan felt Jacob had only been able to learn from his mistakes once he left prison. His progress helped Joan stop feeling helpless and disloyal to her son, and to find peace. Jacob not only accepted his guilt but realized the victims were James and his parents—not himself as he had earlier thought. By bettering his life through education and having a wiser choice of friends, Jacob was able to help Joan and David let go of their bitterness and move on from the tragedy of losing their son.
From this, we can see that justice is subjective. The judicial system, the offender, and the victims view justice through different lenses. And hence, varying views will emerge. For example, the victim’s family may view a sentence as too lenient, while the offender’s family deems it overly harsh. With such a likely range of views, neither side may feel that the decision is just.
This is understandable. Not only do people define justice differently, but even if everyone involved defines it the same way and tries to be impartial, a difficult feat, they cannot know the karmic seeds from the past lives of the victim and the accused. Many of the relevant facts are thus unknown. So it is no wonder that even under the best circumstances, mistakes can be made in the judicial process. And tragically, due to bias and prejudice on the part of some people in the process, even worse mistakes are made. Tragically, while justice is the goal, it is rarely the reality.
So, in light of all these challenges, how do we as individuals define justice?
For many, the answer is simple—punishment. We only need to look at social media, the news, or around us when we’re out in public to see how increasing numbers of people seek to punish others by verbally and even physically lashing out. In the instance of the young would-be phone thief in the talk in mercy titled “Violence is Not the Answer,” many commenters were upset that the shopkeepers didn’t beat him up. Never mind that the whole incident lasted all of ninety seconds, the shopkeepers remained unfazed throughout, and nothing was stolen. Fortunately for the young man, the shopkeepers viewed justice not simply as punishment and even offered to help him.
Their view of justice was much closer to Abdi’s in “Compassion: Another Form of Justice.” Abdi said of the woman who tried to run him down with her four-wheel drive vehicle that he forgave her because he felt compassion was another form of justice. Countering hatred with hatred solves nothing. The vengeful person may feel they have taught the other person a lesson and gotten even, but have they? And how will they feel afterward? As one victim’s husband said upon hearing that the person who attacked his wife would spend the rest of his life in prison, he thought he’d feel better and that the sentence would finally settle the matter. There would be a sense of closure, and he could get on with his life. But after the sentencing, all he felt was emptiness, not peace.
When we seek revenge, it will never be enough. The offense would still have been committed. Someone or something will still have been lost. One’s feeling of safety will have been replaced with that of vulnerability.
Revenge leaves us unfulfilled. The abyss of wounds remains open. Like an addiction, after the first rush, there’s the letdown. The “what now?” We’ll simply be left with seeds for more suffering now and in the future. Even if the punishment seems fulfilling initially, it does not resolve the underlying issue. Restoration can enable people to learn from their mistakes and change. We don’t want the lesson learned to be one of not getting caught. Of more skillfully evading capture the next time.
Rather we want it to be a commitment to never repeat the wrong action.
Restorative justice can accomplish this. It was suggested to Joan and David that it might be a way for them to work through their feelings by sharing their experience with Jacob and to get some of their questions answered. Jacob, feeling he owed it to them, agreed to participate.
The underlying principle in restorative justice, which can be utilized not just in legal cases but in everyday altercations and disagreements, is to decide what can be done to repair the harm that was done so that both parties can improve their respective situations. Through the help of a neutral, trusted individual, perhaps a mutual friend or a trusted advisor, those involved can share their pain and frustration, and what they experienced. One party can learn to take responsibility for their actions, stop blaming others, and choose how to modify their behavior. The other can begin to feel like they are regaining some control over their life and thus reduce their anxiety and begin to heal.
By understanding each other’s point of view, the emphasis on blame is removed. The past is just that—the past. The goal is to find peace going forward. Moving into the future, the injured party lets go of bitterness and the injuring party resolves how to act better in the future. When the process is successful, both parties will find themselves better equipped to move forward. Bitterness is left behind and peace abounds.