By Ken Selvaggi
WAVE 3 Vice President & General Manager
Crime and punishment go hand in hand. Crime and making amends for it is a relatively new concept. It is a welcome one.
Restorative justice allows amends to be made to the victim and to the community by the offender. Victims participate in the making amends and punishment process. Very few cities in our country have these programs and Louisville has been one of them for the past two years.
It has been a community initiative that bubbled up through the system and involved many stakeholders. Settling charges outside of court but with the oversight of it helps all involved - including the judges. In many cases the offender makes greater amends that would have otherwise happened in court with just a jail sentence.
We applaud those involved in leading this effort here that was modeled after a very successful restorative justice program begun nearly 25 years ago in New Zealand. We encourage further expansion of the program both in Louisville and other areas in our region.
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