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Restorative Justice and the Vincentian Re-Entry 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-Entryo On any given day, about 2.3 million people are
incarcerated.o Each year, 700,000 people are released from prisono 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 Incarcerationo 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 Incarcerationo 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 InformationMykal Tairu
State Program CoordinatorVincentian Re-entry Organizing Project
(407)[email protected]
Wendy Tarr
Community OrganizerSociety of St Vincent de Paul, Columbus Diocese
(614)-512-7106 [email protected]
