Women’s Circle explores restorative justice
Psychologist Dr. Eileen Abrams holds up a ball of yarn and asks: “Who in this room has been personally impacted by a crime? Who has family or friends that have been impacted by a crime?”
A few dozen hands immediately shoot up. The yarn travels quickly through the large crowd of women, from those seated up front in a large circle, to those who are standing and sitting in clusters surrounding it.
Soon, after almost everyone is clutching a section of the unraveled yarn, the room resembles a very large spider web.
“Look at the impact of crime on our community,” says Abrams, who works for the Milwaukee Department of Corrections “Almost everyone has been touched by it. Crime can be painful and it can make people more fearful and isolated in their communities. ”
Abrams moderated the Jewish Women’s Circle December event, held on Tuesday, Dec. 5 at a private home in Fox Point. The monthly Rosh Hodesh (beginning of the Jewish month) program focused on the idea of restorative justice, both in the American justice system and in Judaism.
Abrams has spent many years counseling prisoners and she says it is incredibly important to see them as human beings instead of as one-dimensional felons.
“We can’t expect change,” she says, “if we can’t separate the behavior from the person. These men want to feel useful and they want to contribute to the world.”
She showed the audience a white blanket, which an inmate knitted when Abrams had a baby. “He wasn’t allowed to use knitting needles, so he made this with bamboo.
When these men feel heard, and when they feel they can give back, it helps them take responsibility for their crimes. They can transform themselves.”
‘Victim-focused’
Guest speaker Janine Geske, a distinguished professor at Marquette Law School and a former state Supreme Court Justice, explained that restorative justice is based on ancient traditions, including the Navajo peace making courts.
The process is victim-focused and seeks to answer the questions: What harm was done? How will we, as a community, repair it? How can the offender take steps to mend the damage he or she has caused?
The restorative justice program includes three full days of intensive victim-offender dialogue, aimed at facilitating healing on both sides. On the first day, participating prisoners are required to talk about someone significant in their lives (“It’s usually their mother,” said Geske) and they also discuss the ripple effects of their crimes.
As one offender revealed in a documentary about the process, “I never understood how my actions impacted other people’s lives.”
On the second day, the victims (which includes family members) share their experiences, often in excruciating detail. “One woman,” said Geske, “talked about tracking bloody footprints around the hospital…. It was her dead husband’s blood.”
The victims also have the opportunity to ask questions. “They want to know everything,” continued Geske. “They what to know exactly what happened and why.”
The third day is for the prisoners to reflect on their experiences. “We discuss what they can do now and how they can give back.” In some cases, that means mentoring juvenile offenders, making holiday greeting cards or sewing teddy bears for needy children.
So how does the concept of restorative justice relate to Judaism? According to Rabbi Mendel Shmotkin, of Lubavitch of Wisconsin, the Torah’s version of justice is all about “making restitution to the victim and serving a punishment that leads to atonement and reentry into society.”
In fact, he explained, there are only two mentions of “prison” in the Torah, and those mentions refer to a holding area, not to a place of punishment.
“The idea of prison is foreign because it flies in the face of why we’re created.
Everyone has intrinsic value. Locking a person up dehumanizes them. The problem is that our prisons no longer focus on rehabilitation at all.”
While many of the participating offenders are never released from prison, Geske claimed that the few who are can indeed transform their lives. She cited the example of a man convicted in the murder of a drug dealer. That man, she said, currently works at Messmer High School and attends Cardinal Stritch College. “He’s getting straight A’s and doing extremely well.”
That case might be especially remarkable, but restorative justice is a concept that can reach far beyond the prison walls.
The Parents Circle, for example, is an organization that brings together Israeli and Palestinian families who have lost children in the conflict. The group works to prevent further bloodshed by advocating communication and mutual reconciliation.
Geske is also involved in efforts to bring the ideas of restorative justice to public school students. The goal, she said, is to foster respect and understanding before the violence occurs.
“In the end,” said Geske, “It’s all about dialogue, developing a strong community and getting to know each other as human beings.”
Rachel Irwin is a freelance writer in Milwaukee.
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