Restorative Justice<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Greater\nProximity, Greater Mercy<\/strong>\nFriday, \u202fSeptember 11,\n2020<\/p>\n\n\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>Love\nis the motive, but justice is the instrument.<\/em> \u2014Reinhold Niebuhr (1892\u20131971)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Bryan Stevenson\nis a lawyer, social justice activist, and founder of the Equal Justice\nInitiative and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery,\nAlabama. [1] In his book <\/em>Just Mercy: A Story of Redemption and Justice<em>, he makes the case that it is distance\u2014physical, social,\nand spiritual\u2014that allows injustice to flourish. Proximity to one\u2019s\nneighbor\u2014and remember, we\u2019re all neighbors according to Jesus\u2014is what turns our\nhearts towards love and restorative justice. Stevenson writes about his first\ninteraction with an inmate named Henry on death row: two men, exactly the same\nage, one studying at Harvard Law School, one condemned to die:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Henry\nasked me questions about myself, and I asked him about his life. Within an hour\nwe were both lost in conversation. . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\nhad no right to expect anything from a condemned man on death row. Yet he gave\nme an astonishing measure of his humanity. In that moment, Henry altered\nsomething in my understanding of human potential, redemption, and hopefulness.\n. . . Proximity to the condemned and incarcerated made the question of each\nperson\u2019s humanity more urgent and meaningful, including my own. . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve\nalso represented people who have committed terrible crimes but nonetheless\nstruggle to recover and to find redemption. I have discovered, deep in the\nhearts of many condemned and incarcerated people, the scattered traces of hope\nand humanity\u2014seeds of restoration that come to astonishing life when nurtured\nby very simple interventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Proximity\nhas taught me some basic and humbling truths, including this vital lesson: <em>Each of us is more than the worst thing we\u2019ve ever done<\/em>. My work with the poor and\nthe incarcerated has persuaded me that the opposite of poverty is not wealth;\nthe opposite of poverty is justice. Finally, I\u2019ve come to believe that the true\nmeasure of our commitment to justice, the character of our society, our\ncommitment to the rule of law, fairness, and equality cannot be measured by how\nwe treat the rich, the powerful, the privileged, and the respected among us.\nThe true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the\naccused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated. An absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation. Fear and anger can make us vindictive and abusive, unjust and unfair, until we all suffer from the absence of mercy and we condemn ourselves as much as we victimize others. The closer we get to mass incarceration and extreme levels of punishment, the more I believe it\u2019s necessary to recognize that we all need mercy, we all need justice, and\u2014perhaps\u2014we all need some measure of unmerited grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"286\" src=\"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-11-at-9.57.29-AM-500x286.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19309\" srcset=\"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-11-at-9.57.29-AM-500x286.png 500w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-11-at-9.57.29-AM-300x172.png 300w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-11-at-9.57.29-AM-768x439.png 768w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-11-at-9.57.29-AM.png 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Restorative Justice Greater Proximity, Greater Mercy Friday, \u202fSeptember 11, 2020 Love is the motive, but justice is the instrument. \u2014Reinhold Niebuhr (1892\u20131971) Bryan Stevenson is a lawyer, social justice activist, and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. [1] In his book Just Mercy: A Story […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19306"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19306"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19310,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19306\/revisions\/19310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>Love\nis the motive, but justice is the instrument.<\/em> \u2014Reinhold Niebuhr (1892\u20131971)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Bryan Stevenson\nis a lawyer, social justice activist, and founder of the Equal Justice\nInitiative and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery,\nAlabama. [1] In his book <\/em>Just Mercy: A Story of Redemption and Justice<em>, he makes the case that it is distance\u2014physical, social,\nand spiritual\u2014that allows injustice to flourish. Proximity to one\u2019s\nneighbor\u2014and remember, we\u2019re all neighbors according to Jesus\u2014is what turns our\nhearts towards love and restorative justice. Stevenson writes about his first\ninteraction with an inmate named Henry on death row: two men, exactly the same\nage, one studying at Harvard Law School, one condemned to die:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Henry\nasked me questions about myself, and I asked him about his life. Within an hour\nwe were both lost in conversation. . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\nhad no right to expect anything from a condemned man on death row. Yet he gave\nme an astonishing measure of his humanity. In that moment, Henry altered\nsomething in my understanding of human potential, redemption, and hopefulness.\n. . . Proximity to the condemned and incarcerated made the question of each\nperson\u2019s humanity more urgent and meaningful, including my own. . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve\nalso represented people who have committed terrible crimes but nonetheless\nstruggle to recover and to find redemption. I have discovered, deep in the\nhearts of many condemned and incarcerated people, the scattered traces of hope\nand humanity\u2014seeds of restoration that come to astonishing life when nurtured\nby very simple interventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Proximity\nhas taught me some basic and humbling truths, including this vital lesson: <em>Each of us is more than the worst thing we\u2019ve ever done<\/em>. My work with the poor and\nthe incarcerated has persuaded me that the opposite of poverty is not wealth;\nthe opposite of poverty is justice. Finally, I\u2019ve come to believe that the true\nmeasure of our commitment to justice, the character of our society, our\ncommitment to the rule of law, fairness, and equality cannot be measured by how\nwe treat the rich, the powerful, the privileged, and the respected among us.\nThe true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the\naccused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated. An absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation. Fear and anger can make us vindictive and abusive, unjust and unfair, until we all suffer from the absence of mercy and we condemn ourselves as much as we victimize others. The closer we get to mass incarceration and extreme levels of punishment, the more I believe it\u2019s necessary to recognize that we all need mercy, we all need justice, and\u2014perhaps\u2014we all need some measure of unmerited grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"286\" src=\"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-11-at-9.57.29-AM-500x286.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19309\" srcset=\"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-11-at-9.57.29-AM-500x286.png 500w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-11-at-9.57.29-AM-300x172.png 300w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-11-at-9.57.29-AM-768x439.png 768w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-11-at-9.57.29-AM.png 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Restorative Justice Greater Proximity, Greater Mercy Friday, \u202fSeptember 11, 2020 Love is the motive, but justice is the instrument. \u2014Reinhold Niebuhr (1892\u20131971) Bryan Stevenson is a lawyer, social justice activist, and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. [1] In his book Just Mercy: A Story […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19306"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19306"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19310,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19306\/revisions\/19310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}