Restorative justice: Root causes of crime

Re: “ ‘We’ve been here before’: Fatal shooting underscores longtime problems at Seattle’s Third and Pine” [Feb. 28, Law & Justice]:

An elevated police presence and arrests to scale back crime in Seattle could also be important, however we have to go additional by reforming the criminal-legal system that meets offenders after they arrive at jail. As a doctor working in homeless communities, I’ve witnessed firsthand the myriad harms attributable to our ineffective criminal-legal system, not just for these entangled in it however for all of us.

For many years, we now have inequitably enforced legal guidelines after which subjected to an completely punitive system these individuals entangled in our criminal-legal system whereas we do nearly nothing to handle the basis causes of crime. This leads to distressingly excessive and inequitable charges of incarceration whereas the security and livability of our metropolis declines.

We have to pivot to a restorative justice system emphasizing rehabilitation. Vandalism, shoplifting and violent crime are completely unacceptable and have to be stopped. These are additionally typically signs of adolescence trauma, disconnection from work and group, and many years of failed drug coverage with resultant organized prison parts that we systematically fail to handle. Our present technique just isn’t solely inhumane and immoral, it isn’t working. We are able to and should do higher.

Nancy Connolly, MD, Seattle