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Vol. 73, No. 8, August 2000 |
Letters
The Wisconsin Lawyer publishes as many letters in each
issue as space permits. Please limit letters to 500 words; letters
may be edited for length and clarity. Letters should address
the issues, and not be a personal attack on others. Letters endorsing
political candidates cannot be accepted.
Please mail letters
to "Letters to the Editor," Wisconsin Lawyer,
P.O. Box 7158, Madison, WI 53707-7158, fax them to (608) 257-5502,
or email them.
In support of restorative justice programming
I had the pleasure of serving as a public member of the special
Legislative Council Committee on Faith-Based Approaches to Crime
Prevention and Justice. While I do not always agree with Rep.
Jensen, I appreciate his leadership in convening a legislative
forum that explored new and creative options for communities
in their fight against crime.
I was pleased to read in the May Wisconsin Lawyer of
Rep. Jensen's recognition
of restorative justice as "one of the most intriguing"
ideas to come out of the committee. Indeed, the restorative justice
provision - which created prosecutor positions in three
counties to develop restorative justice programming - would
have affected far more people than the other provisions of AB
533.
The potential impact of restorative justice programming from
a prosecutor's office is immense. Prosecutors are in the
unique position to work collaboratively with the victims of crime,
the affected community, and offenders - in conjunction with
defense counsel. Prosecutors in these positions could have worked
on developing the victim-offender dialog programs discussed by
Rep. Jensen, and community impact panels or accountability boards.
The prosecutor in Austin, Texas, has relied upon this model,
which allows residents of a neighborhood to play an active role
in determining what an offender needs to do to make things right
after committing an offense. The panels help create stronger
community bonds, which in turn help prevent crime. Thus, the
criminal justice system is actively assisting communities to
focus on the future, and not simply punishing offenders for wrongdoing.
I hope that the Wisconsin Legislature revisits the concept
of restorative justice next session. I urge members of the Bar
to support funding for restorative justice prosecutors, should
such a provision be introduced next legislative session.
David Lerman
Assistant District Attorney
Milwaukee County
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