Crow Dog
The United States has the highest incarceration and recidivism rates in the world. Our criminal legal system often causes more harm than good. Yet, we continue to believe this is the best way to address crime in our country. Why do we do this? As a society we have never been shown any other way, so we don’t realize that there are other options aside from punitive measures, such as incarceration. Restorative Justice is just one of the many ways that we can work to better implement justice and to get rid of the inequities that exist within our criminal legal system. Restorative Justice is an Indigenous principal of holding people accountable for a harm they have caused by promoting healing and restoration for the entire community as a whole. When a harm is caused, there are more people affected than just the victim and the offender. Friends, family, neighbors, innocent bystanders, coworkers and whole communities may be affected by the harm caused.