Restorative Justice and the Vincentian ReEntry Organizing Project
Mykal Tairu- VROP State Coordinator, FL
Wendy Tarr- SVdP Community Organizer,
Columbus Diocese
The Two Feet of Love in
Action
Charitable Works- response to immediate needs and
specific situations: feeding the hungry, clothing the
naked, caring for and healing the sick, visiting those in
prison, etc.
Social Justice- concerns the social, political, and
economic aspects and, above all, the structural
dimension of problems and their respective solutions
Restorative Justice
• Restorative justice is a theory of justice that
emphasizes repairing the harm caused or revealed
by criminal behavior. It is best accomplished
through unified processes that include all
stakeholders
• Traditional justice asks “Who? And What is the
punishment?”
• Restorative justice asks “Who, what? And how do
we prevent it from happening again?
A Catholic Perspective
“Our tasks are to restore a sense of civility and responsibility to everyday
life, and promote crime prevention and genuine rehabilitation. The
common good is undermined by criminal behavior that threatens the
lives and dignity of others and by policies that seem to give up on those
who have broken the law (offering too little treatment and too few
alternatives to either years in prison or the execution of those who have
been convicted of terrible crimes)”
-A Statement of the Catholic Bishops of the United States, Nov 2000
•
"We are still a long way from the time when our conscience can be certain
of having done everything possible to prevent crime and to control it
effectively so that it no longer does harm and, at the same time, to offer to
those who commit crimes a way of redeeming themselves and making a
positive return to society. If all those in some way involved in the problem
tried to . . . develop this line of thought, perhaps humanity as a whole could
take a great step forward in creating a more serene and peaceful
society." -Pope John Paul II, July 9, 2000
What is SVdP Voice of the
Poor?
• The Advocacy Arm of the Society of St Vincent de Paul
• Awareness of the needs of the poor and vulnerable that
goes beyond the surface level
• Advocacy the influences institutional structures- formal
or informal
• Catholic Social Teaching that shows itself in action
• Systemic Change that produces meaningful and
sustainable differences in the lives of the poor
Voice of the Poor in
Context
Rule 7.2 of Society of St. Vincent de Paul:
“Where injustice, inequality, poverty or exclusion are due to unjust
economic, political, or social structures or to inadequate or unjust
legislation, the Society should speak out clearly against the situation,
always with charity, with the aim of contributing to and demanding
improvements.”
"You must not be content with tiding the poor over the poverty crisis;
you must study their condition and the injustices which brought
about such poverty, with the aim of long term improvement.”
Blessed Frederic Ozanam
America’s Criminal Justice
System
• Mass Incarceration and Barriers to Re-Entry
o On any given day, about 2.3 million people are
incarcerated.
o Each year, 700,000 people are released from prison
o Barriers to re-entry include:
• Many occupations that require licensures forbid felony
offenders
• Housing restrictions for ex-offenders
• Exclusion from many state and federal assistance
programs
• Some exclusions from federal student aid
• Negative stigma
America’s Criminal Justice
System
• Addiction and Incarceration
o About 45% of federal prisoners and 64% of inmates suffer from
mental illness.
o Nearly 76% of inmates who have a mental health problem are
dependent on or abuse alcohol or drugs.
o Addiction is not a cause for incarceration. People need help, not
incarceration
• Juveniles and Incarceration
o 7.3 million children have at least one incarcerated parent in our
nation today.
o Approximately 70% of these children will end up in the criminal
justice system in their lifetime.
o Children with fathers in prison are 4 times more likely to enter the
child welfare system
The Vincentian Re-Entry
Organizing Project
• We are a partnership between the USCCB's
Catholic Campaign for Human Development and
the National Society of St Vincent de Paul.
• This partnership brings together one of the country's
largest and most significant funders of grassroots
organizing and leadership development with one of
the country's largest volunteer driven service
organizations
• The goal of the project is to promote systemic
change and address the barriers to reentry for
formally incarcerated individuals
VROP Around the
Country
• Florida: Lead by Mykal Tairu, the VROP in Florida has
been engaged in meaningful advocacy that
includes removing barriers to employment for
people with criminal records.
• Ban the Box
Daytona Beach
Orlando
Rights Restoration Campaign
• There are 1.54 million Floridians who cannot vote
due to a past felony conviction
• In order to restore voting rights, one must apply to
have a clemency hearing which could take a
decade… literally
• Something as minuet as traffic violations can
disqualify you from receiving your rights
• Faith in Florida (PICO Affiliate) is leading a statewide
ballot initiative that would atomically restore the
voting rights of individuals with felony convictions,
excluding those convicted of murder or sexual
offenses
VROP Around the
Country
•
•
•
•
Massachusetts:
Louisiana:
Ohio:
Wisconsin:
Columbus, Ohio
Legislative Action
•Second Chance Act S. 1513:
•Funds government agencies and non-profit organizations with
federal grants to work on strategies and services to reduce recidivism
through re-entry efforts – mental health, jobs, education, drug
treatment. Early release for some elderly non-violent offenders.
•If passed into law, the Second Chance Reauthorization Act would
allow either the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) or a federal prisoner
to request a transfer to home confinement, by submitting a written
request to the U.S. Attorney General.
•The program would only apply to people convicted in federal courts,
not state courts.
•(S. 1513), introduced June 2015 by U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Marco
Rubio (R-FL), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Legislative Action
Corrections Oversight, Recidivism Reduction, and Eliminating Costs
for Tax-payers in Our National System Act of 2015 - S. 467
- Calls for partnerships with faith-based, community and non-profit
organizations to provide recidivism reduction and recovery programs on a
paid and volunteer basis;
- Provides essential recidivism and reentry programs which may include: life
skills classes, mentoring, domestic violence deterrence classes, occupational
and vocational training, assistance with finding housing and employment and
substance abuse treatment and mental health treatment, and;
- Provides a strategy to reinvest budget savings resulting from this act back
into recidivism and reduction programs.
-
This bill was assigned to a congressional committee on the judiciary
on February 11, 2015. It is sponsored by Senator Cornyn (R-TX)
Legislative Action
•Smarter Sentencing Act – S.502 / HR 920
•Expanding current judicial sentencing options related specifically to
non-violent drug offenses; Permitting reductions in mandatory
minimum sentences for certain drug crimes. The bill will permit 8,800
federal prisoners (87% of which are black) who are imprisoned for
crack cocaine crimes to return to court to seek fairer punishments in
line with the Fair Sentencing Act.
•The Justice Department estimated last year that the Smarter
Sentencing Act would save $24 billion over 20 years and prevent
the building of over a dozen new prisons and the hiring of thousands
of new correctional officers.
•Introduced Feb 12, 2015 (114th Congress, 2015–2017)
•The Smarter Sentencing Act (S. 502/H.R. 920) is a bipartisan bill
sponsored by Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Mike Lee (R-UT) in
the U.S. Senate and Representatives Raul Labrador (R-ID) and Bobby
Scott (D-VA) in the U.S. House of Representatives.
What can Vincentians
do/Call to Action
• Sign up for the Voice of the Poor email list:
http://capwiz.com/svdpusa/mlm/signup/
• In upcoming days, you will receive a sign on letter
from President of the National Society, Sheila Gilbert
to support those three pieces of legislation
• Connect with a Vincentian Re-Entry Project
organizer in your state or region
Contact Information
Mykal Tairu
State Program Coordinator
Vincentian Re-entry Organizing Project
(407)-630-0023
Mykal@svdporlando.org
Wendy Tarr
Community Organizer
Society of St Vincent de Paul, Columbus Diocese
(614)-512-7106
wendytarr6@gmail.com