Last month, I received a humanitarian award, presented by a group called Death Penalty Focus. At the April 24 ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire, there was much talk about the abolition of the death penalty from our system. It's a move I support with all of my heart, soul and mind. Yet it brings up some good questions to ponder regarding our whole justice system.

Social justice in a civil society must go far beyond the punitive responses. In the case of my son's murder in 1995 I saw victim's on both sides of the gun. But many have questioned me about the necessary punishment of my son's murderer. Must he be punished? I say yes, but I also believe punishment just for the sake of punishment is barbaric, and the death penalty is the worst example of this barbarism. It is a public display of vengence not a mark of a civilized society. 

 

Compassionate consequences, healing and ultimately restoration should be the goals. The convicted could face the consequences of introspection and whatever is required to achieve full restoration back into our society. Since my own tragedy I have taken the work of forgiveness and restorative justice to schools, prisons, corporations and other venues.  As I have said in previous messages, I give the juvenile prisoners the following recipe for "compassionate consequence:"

1. Take responsibility for your actions.
2. Ask forgiveness of the people you have hurt.
3. Forgive yourself.
4. Reach out to someone and stop them from making the same mistakes you have made.

I believe we are here to serve humanity - and in the totem pole of humanity, in my opinion, kids come first. We are their caregivers and role models. Similarly, when we talk about social justice we must go way beyond the punitive approach. In the case of my tragedy, when I forgave and offered my son's murderer a job (an opportunity to redeem himself) he transformed and passed his GED, took up college courses and started reading five books a month. While he still has many years to serve in prison, he will eventually get out and join his grandfather and me doing the work at TKF, saving other kids from making the same mistake he did.

I know in my heart of hearts we have saved him. Just imagine how many he will save. He could have received the death penalty, and we would have lost the opportunity to transform him and have him save many more kids. 

This, in my humble opinion, needs to be the face of social justice in a civil society.