{"id":4328,"date":"2024-02-22T20:14:52","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T20:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chicagocouncil.org\/staging\/1601\/?p=4328"},"modified":"2024-02-22T20:14:52","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T20:14:52","slug":"new-restorative-justice-community-and-the-courts-an-analysis-of-the-impact-benefits-and-elements-constantly-in-conflict-in-chicagos-restorative-justice-community-cour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chicagocouncil.org\/staging\/1601\/new-restorative-justice-community-and-the-courts-an-analysis-of-the-impact-benefits-and-elements-constantly-in-conflict-in-chicagos-restorative-justice-community-cour\/","title":{"rendered":"NEW – Restorative Justice, Community, and the Courts: An Analysis of the Impact, Benefits, and Elements \u201cConstantly in Conflict\u201d in Chicago\u2019s Restorative Justice Community Courts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our new report<\/a> examines the Circuit Court of Cook County\u2019s three Restorative Justice Community Courts (RJCCs) located in the Avondale (North Side), Englewood (South Side), and North Lawndale (West Side) neighborhoods of Chicago. The North Lawndale court opened in 2017, and Englewood and Avondale followed in 2020. The RJCCs generally serve 18-to-26-year-olds living in or near the three target neighborhoods who are charged with nonviolent felonies and misdemeanors; they aim to divert these young people away from the traditional criminal court process, offering them the chance of having their cases dismissed without a conviction upon successful completion of the program. Our report is an exploratory study using data from interviews with stakeholders, court-watching observations, and data from the Cook County State\u2019s Attorney\u2019s Office (CCSAO) and Office of the Chief Judge (OCJ) to explore if and how the RJCCs\u2019 practices align with and\/or depart from general restorative justice best practices.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restorative justice is a framework stemming from Indigenous beliefs focused on relationships as a foundation for collective wellbeing. When applied in contexts related to the criminal legal system, restorative justice offers a striking contrast to retributive and punitive models of justice. Instead of focusing on punishment and deterrence, restorative justice centers the needs of victims, the people who caused harm, and their communities, placing the decisions surrounding addressing harm in the hands of people who are directly impacted.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The first step to engage with the RJCCs is to be referred by the prosecuting attorney on one\u2019s case. Next, a prospective participant would speak with a circle keeper, who meets with all relevant parties (the participant, the victim, and community members) to discuss the pathway to repair and create a Repair of Harm Agreement (ROHA). The ROHA outlines the goals that a participant must achieve in order to graduate from the program. While ROHAs are meant to be individualized documents, RJCC participant ROHAs seem to share common themes such as completing several hours of community service and sometimes meeting certain education\/workforce requirements (such as obtaining a GED or finding a job). Participants must also attend regular RJCC court calls to check in on their ROHA progress. If the person completes the requirements in their ROHA, they \u201cgraduate\u201d from the program and get their charges dismissed; if the participant \u201cfails\u201d the RJCC program, their case goes back to the Criminal Division and the traditional process resumes. Participants spend an average of 13 months in the program.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Our analysis<\/a> of the CCSAO\u2019s data shows 595 people entering the RJCCs between 2017 and 2023. According to the Office of the Chief Judge (OCJ), of the 100 people who were admitted into the program between 2020 through 2022 and had completed their time in the program as of March 31, 2023, 94% of people had their charges dropped or dismissed and 6% had been found guilty. Compared to Cook County\u2019s post-plea problem-solving courts<\/a> (in which participants are required to enter a guilty plea before<\/em> participating) where only about half of participants tend to graduate, the Restorative Justice Community Courts seem to result in better outcomes for participants but also admit significantly fewer people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to get the full picture of the culture and functioning of these courts, we interviewed 16 court stakeholders, community advocates, service providers, and former participants and collected 18 court observations by our volunteer court-watchers in addition to reviewing quantitative data. Generally, our findings show positive outcomes for people involved in the RJCCs who complete the program and \u201cgraduate,\u201d but our research also uncovers some concerns related to the inherent tensions between restorative justice and retributive justice ideology (i.e., the traditional criminal legal system). Some of our key findings show:<\/p>\n\n\n\n