OF BARS AND ADAM'S ALE

I was robbed a while back. It was mostly cash and electronic devices. The cost of replacing it all was far above my deductible. However, since the electronic devices were more than a year old, the insurance company depreciated them to such an extent that I received no compensation causing a huge drain on my resources when it all had to be replaced.

The person who did it was caught, but of course everything stolen was long gone (and snorted up his nose.) I never met the young man who did it. The police called me once to ask for a sentencing recommendation but that was about the extent of my connection with the whole affair.

It became a defining moment for the people with whom I lived at the time. Daily a decision was made with reference to “the time we were broken into.” A certain amount of fear became part of life in the house.

Then a letter came. It was from the young man from his prison cell. Of course it expressed remorse and apologies. I still have the letter. It was instinctive that a response was needed but I could not think of a thing to say to him.

Recently I was reading Pope Benedict’s Apostolic Exhortation Sacrementum Caritatis, being completely blown away at this wonderful document, when I landed upon the paragraph concerning the care for prisoners (59). I did not expect an exhortation on the Eucharist to go in this direction but go it did. It talked about the Eucharist being made available to prisoners and to help their “faith journey” and “full social rehabilitation.” He goes on to say, “I ask Dioceses to do whatever is possible to ensure that sufficient pastoral resources are invested in the spiritual care of prisoners.” (emphasis added)

This past Monday there was a segment on NPR’s Talk of the Nation concerning restorative justice. Recognizing that our penal system is largely broken, it explained how this set of principles is trying to restore some humanity and healing. It puts the persons who are convicted of crimes in contact with their victims and lets them interact.

The person interviewed, who saw her husband murdered and her daughter raped, talked about being Roman Catholic and taking seriously the faith which states that we should forgive those as we are forgiven. “If I am forgiven,” she says, “how can I say I don’t forgive?”

Wow.

The goal of these controversial principles is not only to help the victim, but to help the criminal examine his life. Most, when taken to court, see themselves as being tried against the state, not a person. Many times they have never examined their lives and do not understand the damage that they have caused. The last step is to have them accepted back into society, to be told that they are worth something.

The focus is on healing people, not simply punishing them. Think about it. What makes most people commit crimes? It usually has to do with some kind of need (legitimate or otherwise) or they feel oppressed. What does a jail sentence do? If you had a need before hand, it will be greater after. You will have less money, you will have less opportunity to get a job, you will have fewer ties to the community, you will be looked down upon more, and you will feel more oppressed.

This letter appeared in a column in Tuesday’s Akron Beacon Journal:

". . . I am an ex-offender here in Akron, Ohio. . . .I have been out of trouble but now I am back in trouble. My biggiest obsticule was and still is finding employment and housing. I am tired of going know where in my life. I would like to know if you have information that would help me obtain employment and housing. I really need all the help I can get. I am trying very hard."

An advice radio host often says to wives that there are two roads that they can choose in dealing with husbands who are not sticking around the house. They can nag and make home life miserable (making him want to escape from home even more) or you can risk making home life pleasant and try to lure him back. In a similar mode if a person in trouble feels they are living against society rather feeling a part of it, what are the chances he will give two cents about “society” if he feels society does not give two cents about him?

Interestingly the recidivism rate for persons convicted of a crime where these principles are in place seems to drop precipitously. And isn’t that what we want? Victims want those who commit crimes to know what damage they have caused to real people, society wants them to experience the consequences for their deeds and to have them not do it again, the perpetrator needs to be healed and become a constructive part of society and God wants us to forgive.

Apparently it works. More often than not according to the news segment. Which is far better than what we have now which is not working more often than not.

Which leads me back to my letter. Isn't funny that I’m almost afraid to write it? What if it comes back with baggage? But what if it comes back from a healed young man? It seems all so risky. But, darn it, "risky" so often seems to be a part of the definition of faith.

For those interested in prison ministry, the Diocese of Cleveland has this site that might help.