Five years ago, the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office launched the Neighborhood Justice Program, which allows people to take responsibility for harm they caused outside a traditional court process. The program has facilitated more than 403 conferences and has a 1% recidivism rate.
Danitza Torres
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Neighborhood Courts offer restorative justice: Let’s keep low-level offenders out of court
Imagine someone hits your car and leaves the scene. Or maybe your child or friend gets caught shoplifting or with a fake ID. Should that person face court, a possible criminal record? Danitza Torres, coordinator of Santa Cruz County’s Neighborhood Courts program, thinks there is a better way, one that involves restorative justice and a chance for people to take responsibility for their actions and for victims to get closure on low-level offenses. Neighborhood Courts have resolved 130 cases in the county in the two years since it started. Torres explains how it works here and puts out a call for volunteers to serve as panelists to help resolve cases.