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DURHAM – Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham needs participation and support from the community as it launches restorative justice circles, leader Marcia Owen and volunteers said at the coalition’s monthly roundtable held this week at Shepherd’s House United Methodist Church on Driver Street.
For the past several months, volunteers with Durham’s Restorative Justice Project have been training in their roles as community supporters in a circle that brings together victims of crimes and the people who committed them. The Durham Restorative Justice Project launched as a partnership with Religious Coalition and the Durham County Criminal Justice Resource Center in 2011.
Restorative justice circles are very low tech, said Amy Elliott. “It’s about people coming together and talking about what happened,” she said.
Volunteer Sylvia Thompson said the first circle brought together a homeowner who was robbed and the young man who drove the getaway car, not knowing why he was picking up his friends. The circle resulted in the homeowner telling the young man, who had dropped out of college, to return and complete his education as restoration.
Elliott said restorative justice circles aren’t part of making a deal within the criminal justice system. Participants are there voluntarily. Those who committed the crime must admit wrongdoing. Both victims and offenders also have their families and supporters there for the circle dialogue.
“Restorative justice reconnects us through a dialogue process,” Elliott said. Both the victim and offender are asked about their lives, what led up to the crime and what they were thinking. She said restorative justice is evidence-based and already used in schools, courts and with probation.
Owen said that Durham District Attorney Tracey Cline’s office has been unresponsive to inquiries about restorative justice circles. Owen said she wants to be perceived by the DA office as an ally, not a problem.
Elliott said they’re at the beginning of the process of gathering community support, and are on Facebook. They want to figure out ways to connect with victims and offenders.
For information, call coalition director Marcia Owen at (919) 358-1113 or email durhamrjp@gmail.com.
