A brief history of Positive Justice Gloucestershire.
‘If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were
necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line
dividing good and evil runs through the heart of every human being and who is willing to
destroy a piece of his own heart.’ Solzhenitsyn
Positive Justice Gloucestershire was started largely to try to spread Solzhenitsyn’s
views, rather than those one reads so frequently in the popular press. Marina
Cantacuzino of the Forgiveness Project quoted ’ Solzhenitsyn at a conference of
Quakers in Criminal justice’, entitled ‘From faith to action’ in February 2008. Another
speaker at that conference was Juliet Lyon of the Prison Reform Trust, who reported a
meeting with Jack Straw, minister for justice. He had said to her that week, ‘that would
be an excellent idea, but how would it run in the Daily Mail?’
Apparently the government thinks the views of the Daily Mail represent public opinion.
Juliet Lyon, however, said that surveys carried out by the Prison Reform Trust show that
people are far less vindictive than the Daily Mail. Perhaps more in line with
Solzhenitsyn’s view of human beings.
I felt that there was a need for a local group to challenge the views of the Daily Mail, and
other media; to put across positive ideas of human beings, and support and report what
can be and is being done, so that the good within individuals may be helped to flourish.
Gloucestershire Area Quaker Meeting supported me and funded a meeting on June 11th
to which were invited representatives from various bodies concerned with the justice
system, from Christian denominations and other faith traditions, county councillors,
magistrates, and others.
A working group was formed which has met several times to organise the meeting on
November 11th, out of which we hope a group will grow which will promote more positive
images of offenders, alternatives to prison, and lead to informed debate on issues of
justice.
Mary Brown