The American Public as well as the citizenry of many other nations are increasingly expressing their dissatisfaction with the current criminal justice system. Why is this? Because the system isn't even asking the right questions.
The primary question asked by our current retributive system of justice is, How much pain did the offender cause so that we can inflict a similar amount of pain on the offender.
The problem is that we are dishing out more and more pain but we refuse to focus on the real issues related to the victims, the offenders and the community.
The more appropriate question should be What will it take to bring a sense of well being (Peace, shalom) back to the community.
That is precisely the question that Restorative Justice Asks.
