Crime, Punishment, and Restorative Justice

Can restorative justice be applied to a full range of offenses? Ross London answers with an unequivocal ""Yes."" London proposes that, by focusing on the restoration of personal and social trust, restoration may become acknowledged as the overarching goal of all criminal justice policies and practices. While supporting the use of restorative justice as a non-punitive alternative for appropriate cases, London argues that deserved punishment for serious offenses--far from contradicting the goal of restoration--may be instrumental for the emotional recovery of crime victims, the security of communities, and for the successful reintegration of offenders. Moreover, this approach responsibly minimizes resort to punishment by maximizing all of the many other means of restoring trust. Drawing on his experience as a judge, prosecutor, and public defender, London offers a pragmatic vision of restorative justice that integrates its core values with real-world applications for even the most serious violent crimes. ""London provides a comprehensive analysis and application of his argument, exploring its socio-biological basis and how it addresses the needs of victims, offenders, and society as a whole. He discusses the role of apology, forgiveness, restitution, rehabilitation, victim-offender dialogues and punishment within this framework. By identifying restoration of trust as the overarching goal of justice, we might be able to provide a realistic and comprehensive theory of sentencing, for all levels of crime."" -- Howard Zehr, Professor of Restorative Justice at Eastern Mennonite University Ross D. London, Ph.D., is a former municipal court judge and, during a twenty-five year career as a criminal law practitioner, has served as a Public Defender, Prosecutor, and Juvenile Court Referee. He presently serves as Professor of Justice Studies at Berkeley College. In addition to his academic writings, Dr. London is also the co-author of In That Moment, a one-act play that explores the struggles of an African American police officer involved in a fatal shooting.