Customer Reviews

Justice That Restores

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This book is superbly written and well documented. He has a section describing the Changing Character in Crime which just simply will send chills up your spine.

Throughout the book Colson is asking, What is the Remedy? What is Justice? What Must We Do? He does not tip toe around these questions. He presents historical examples and modern statistics and you must decide. I especially liked the Alternative Sentencing section. Not giving the Judges the power to lessen the sentence of a horrific crime but at the same time not overloading the prisons with minor crimes and then be forced to release sentenced criminals by the courts.

He looks at the common sense cost and effectiveness of present sentencing. Towards the end of the book he does point to prison systems that are working. And the stats show the reduction of recidivism as a result of these new faith based prisons.

Personally I do not understand why these newer systems cannot be seen as win-win-win situations. The taxpayer saves money, the prisoner does not return to jail, and society gets a responsible citizen back in society.

I cannot understand a less than excellent review being given by a person that has not served in a prison system. I serve in the Ct. Dept. of Correction and after reading this book not only are my eyes are open to reality but so is my mind. There really needs to be a better way than what we are doing today and I believe that at the very least this book should get the legislatures, wardens and citizens asking, no demanding for positive changes. I would love to see what would be the result if every warden in a state be given this book to study and then to come together with Mr. Colson, The Governor and the Commisioner of Correction.

Mr. Colson needs to write another book in this vein of thought. This book went by way too soon.

Justice That Restores By Charles Colson
A critical book review by ZiBai Liu


Introduction:
Being a Christian with a loving heart and having experienced the criminal justice system in his life, Charles Colson, the founder of the Prison Fellowship Ministries and Prison Fellowship International, examined the criminal justice system in America and studied the reasons of its failure and brought a way out. Different from other writers such as Howard Zehr and Gerry Johnstone who talk about the restorative justice in a more sociological way, Charles gives the present criminal justice system a critique from a biblical worldview. He thinks that the root of its failure is the misunderstanding of the justice which leads to a chaos in society and causes people to loss the moral tradition. Charles believes that there is a redemptive way from the biblical worldview and only this way could bring the society back to order -shalom-- by employing the new criminal justice system---restorative justice.
Summary :

Charles admits that ""the present system falls woefully short", and he thinks the modern worldview is the cause. He urges that we need to re-examine some philosophical questions such as the nature of law, anthropological understanding of human nature and the causes of crime, and then find these answers from the Bible. Charles feels confident on the transforming power of Christ which can restore the current criminal system by introducing a new system called "restorative justice". There are four parts in his argument: creation, the Fall, redemption and restoration.

Part 1: Creation----- "what is justice"
Charles states that society need to have an objective foundation of justice and law to keep people living in order. He found that people have lost the traditional view that God ultimately stood behind the law which provides moral guidance. He believes that a law which only God reveals can provide us true justice. Charles blames the flaws of modern culture which has been profoundly affected by naturalism. He rebukes the naturalism's view on law of nothing but a social construction imposed by those in power to control, and it can lead to tyranny and chaos. He mentions the change of crime conception in King Henry's time from the biblical model of calling for reparation by offender to the victim, to a model requiring a penalty to government. Charles also critiques the relativists who think law is subjective for it can not provide basic standards of justice, and it would lead to chaos in the law.

Part 2: the Fall----"The Roots of Crime"
Charles proclaims that the failed and flawed criminal justice policies are caused by a wrong view of human nature thus lead society in a mess. He thinks authority should understand that its role of using the law to restrain sin is from God, who gives government a task to preserve order by punishing those wrongdoers. (Romans 13:4) Charles discusses the secular views of human nature especially Utopianism which holds that "human beings are by nature purely good--perfectible by education or political change" and it denies the Christian view of original sin. Charles argues that ignoring the original sin would lead to denying moral accountability and personal responsibility. It would dull the conscience and coarsen of crimes. Charles thinks that criminals need to realize the original sin and have a confession and get the salvation and personal transformation.

Part 3: Redemption
Charles emphasizes the original sin which defiles everyone (Romans 3:10) and leads human beings to make wrong moral choices and then commit crime. (Romans 7:15) Charles quotes what Pogo said: "We have met the enemy, and he is us" to affirm that individuals who make wrong moral choices should be responsible for their acts and criminals should not blame the environmental influence. He states that the since law is written on the human heart, so the moral conscience can be trained to acknowledge their own moral failure. Charles argues that the root cause of crime is the deterioration of a society's moral fabric and he found that when moral ethos in society goes up, the crime rate drops. So he suggests that only Christianity can give individuals the true moral training which would lead them make right moral choices and then transform the societies and eradicate the root of crime.

Part 4: Justice That Restores
Charles emphasizes the importance of the love relationship which flows from God to humans and among humans. He states that the restorative justice can offer aspects of the biblical view of shalom which keep people living in the right order that God intended. Charles argues that the restorative justice agrees with the biblical principle in the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19. Charles appreciates the wise sentencing practice of restorative justice as he quotes Peter Walker's writing: "to view crime primarily in terms of broken relationships between people and only secondly as an offense against soceity's laws gives a radically different perspective on offending and on the punishment of offending behavior." He also mentions the magic moment which is when offender recognizes the harm has been done and repents, and it is the heart of restorative justice to bring reconciliation repairing the relationships among victim, offender and community.

Appraisal:

Having a same view with Gerry that there is a need of the rebirth of ancient practices, Charles rebukes the current criminal justice system which has been badly influenced by wrong philosophies from naturalism and relativism as their understanding of the true meaning of justice has gone far away from the Bible. Marshall also states that God's justice is manifested in the gospel where God's rectifying power accomplishes justice on earth and God justifies the one who has faith in Jesus. Similar to what Marshall thinks that justification is "primarily a legal concept" which reflects the legal status of a person before God , Charles emphasizes that the true just social order only comes from God and the law should reflect God's objective truth which is the foundation of justice. Charles realizes the neglecting of this connection between God's law and social law is the problem of present criminal justice system, and it agrees with what Marshall points out that there is a divorce between the doctrine of justification and issue of social justice.
As Marshall states that "justification has been confined to the religious sphere of thought", and few people can sense the relationship between the justice from God and issues of social justice , Charles brings a way of relating these two issues very well.
Zehr who has fame of "grandfather of restorative justice" addresses the core of restorative justice is to put right the wrongs, and it implies reparation or restoration of harms offenders have caused. Johnstone summarizes that instead of only punishing offenders, "restorative justice helps to heal the wounds of crime suffered by the victim". Instead of understanding restorative justice only from sociological and sociopolitical point of view like Howard Zehr and Gerry Johnstone, Charles gives the restorative justice a biblical explanation. He understands that the heart of the restorative justice is the point of transformation which is human heart's changing. Charles focuses on the redemptive power and true forgiveness of sin as well as community transformation on his understanding of restorative justice. He thinks the restorative justice grounds in the peace of God's created order, which offers aspects of the biblical view of shalom.
Agreeing with Peter Walker that we should "view crime primarily in terms of broken relationships between people" , Charles argues the reason why justice is not realized is because individual responsibility in the context of community, individual transformation and healing of relationships in neglected. He mentions that there is a spiritual moment---magic moment---when offenders realize their responsibility for their crime, and are transformed to be willing to restore the relationships between people and also between God, which Charles thinks is the central goal of criminal justice system.
In concurrence with Johnstone's idea that community must be prepared to become involved in the resolution of conflicts between offenders and victims, Charles argues that restorative justice must provide opportunity for offenders to be reintegrated into community. He thinks when community court offers initiative help such as job training, restitution program to offenders can reinforce the notion of individual responsibility and reduce recidivism, thus "individuals and cultures can be redeemed, and community's peace can be restored."
Johnstone emphasizes the on going relationship with offenders which means we should not simply cut them off as enemies. Charles takes the same stand and advocates prevention programs such as the Choice program to help troubles kids stay with their families, and MatchPoint program which sends Christians mentors to have a long-term relationship with offenders to demonstrate the unconditional love of Jesus Christ. It is like what Michael wrote: "we are not looking back to punish the past, we are trying to create the future....to recreate harmony and to re-member."

Critique:
Charles' understanding of the environment's influence on crime seems a bit vague to me. In one way, Charles agrees with psychologists Samenow and Yochelson and Harvard professors James Q. Wilson's study result which shows crime has no correlation with environment, poverty, race, or oppression but with moral training. He believes the reason for committing crime is only because human beings make wrong moral choices. But in another way, Charles uses other examples such as "the broken-window theory" which means to punish petty offenders to keep public order in order to discourage crimes to show how an orderly society can reduce crime rate.
Charles thinks offenders should not blame either deprived backgrounds or other factors. Holding different opinion with Clarence who believes that criminals are helpless victims of their circumstances , Charles argues that crime is the product of deliberation for offender know sprecisely what he was doing, so offender should take their responsibility. But I found that Charles neglected some points here and I agree with Zehr's understanding that offenders themselves are victimized and crime may be a response to a sense of victimization, same as what James Gillgan has argued that "all violence is an effort to achieve justice or to undo injustice." Zehr argues that "many offenders do not see themselves as free agents completely in charge of their own lives" and their behavior is shaped by surrounding forces, socio-economic and hardly to control or resist. It is like what Paul said: "I do the very thing I hate." (Romans 7:15). I believe that the circumstance can cause those potential criminals to commit crime against the law and make crime easier to happen. On one side we should not neglect humans' free will from God which allows us to make any kind of moral choice, but on the other side, we also need to think about the deceiving forces from Satan which lure us to do harm both to offender and to victim. Thus I agree with Zehr's explanation that community or society also has responsibility and obligations both to offenders and victims and offender should not take all of responsibilities.
In Charles's whole book, he argues from the perspective of a biblical worldview to show how we should understand the criminal justice system, and he proclaims that the biblical worldview is the only one that provides answers to produce a truly just public order and sustain a rational just society. But here raises a question to me that is what kind of biblical worldview he is talking about? As Charles' arguments are trying to persuade those who are looking for a more rational worldview to understand a truly just society, he might base his argument only on Greek thinking pattern. But I think there are many kinds of biblical worldviews as many new theologies popping up these days. Many Asian and African Christians feel dissatisfied with Western theological worldview as the anthropologist Kraft describes that it "rejects anything that appears to fall outside the purview of rigorous rational analysis."
Charles denied all other religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism's value of transformation of individual and societies , but I think he does not really understand these religions and neglects what these religions can offer to restorative justice. Gerry writes that the restorative justice started with the proponents of restorative justice's embracing native justice traditions on conflict resolution in New Zealand Maori and Native Americans. For example, the practice of family group conferencing which England and other countries have imported as a model for youth justice was partly informed by Maori justice practices and philosophies.
Charles brings a new criminal justice model which is restorative justice system. As Charles argues the current criminal system has fallen short to understand what justice is, he thinks only the restorative justice system can repair and recapture the communities which are damaged by current justice system. But Zehr holds a different opinion. Zehr thinks that restorative justice by no means an answer to all problems and he does not think it can replace the current legal system but it can be a backup and guardian of basic human rights.
There are also other minor shortcomings in Charles' book, such as his biblical understanding of restorative justice is more from offenders' standpoint on what way we should treat them to deter crime and reduce future offenses instead of emphasizing the injustice caused by flawed state law on the restoration of harms which have been done to victims. And also, Charles has a very optimistic view on today's church and Christian organizations and does not discuss what the restorative justice model would do to those offenders and criminals who proclaim themselves Christians.






Bibliography:

Colson, Charles W. Justice That Restores. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001.
Johnstone,Gerry. Restorative Justice: Ideas, Values, Debates. Cullompton: Willian Publishing, 2002.
Lapsley, Michael. "The Heart of Jusitce: Truth, Mercy, Healing, Forgivness," in Restorative Justice: Contemporary Themes And Practice, ed. Helen Bowen and Jim Consedine. New Zealand: Ploughshares Publishions,1999.
Marshall, Christopher D. Beyong Retribution: A New Testament Vision for Justice, Crime and Punishment. Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing, 2001.
Walker, Peter. "Repairing the Breach: A Personal Motivation," in Relational Justice: Repairing the Breach, eds. Johnathan Burnside and Nicola Baker (Winchester, England: Watersie Press, 1994),148; Quoted in Charles W. Colson, Justice That Restores.138. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001.
Yung,Hwa. Mangoes or Bananas? The Quest for an Authentice Asian Christian Theology: Biblical Theological in an Asian Context. New Delhi: Oxford,1997.
Zehr,Howard. The Little Book Of Restorative Justice. Intercourse: Good Books, 2002.

Chuck Colson, probably the most influential Christian writer alive today, tackles the knotty questions, "What is justice?" and "How should a modern Christian view our current justice system?" He has a very readable style, using stories of real lives to make his points. Colson makes no bones about his view that our current justice system is horribly out of kilter. But he does more than critique the system. He brilliantly analyzes the philosophical and theological errors that got us in this mess, and lays out a vision for how we can restructure the system to make it repair the harm done to victims and communities, and reform the hearts of offenders. He calls this approach "Restorative Justice", and cites many places in the US and around the world where it is being practiced. This book put my experiences with crime in perspective. It gave me hope, where I had given up on finding a solution to the scourge of crime in our neighborhoods. This is probably the most important book any Christian can read this year. Once you have read it, you'll have a clearer understanding of how society should respond to crime, and what things you can do to help. I highly recommend this book.

It is sad to see a professional critique that is so shallow. The major point that Colson makes in the book is that the rise in crime is a moral problem, and a problem of morality. I know that it's popular to put everything in "Right" and "Left" political terms, but when it comes to the criminal justice system those labels make little sense, and Colson is very careful to say that to the extent that both have tried to "Fix" the system both have been wrong. What is needed and evaluation of what works and what doesn't. As one who has spent the last seven years working in prison ministry, I was impressed at how well Colson presented what we all see. I have never worked with Colson's groups, I can't sign the pledge they require, but I'm a great admirer of their organization. The place where I think the book breaks down is in the conclusion, and recommendations. Colson sites several different programs, but doesn't offer a grand vision... I wish he would, but I'm afraid, that like many real world problems, there isn't a simple solution. Success requires men to change their hearts, and that can't be done en masse, but only one heart at a time.

This book found a bit of a skeptical reader in me. Not because of the blinding influence of political presuppositions but by the gargantuan criminal justice problems facing our society. Such had me thoroughly intimidated. The problems seem so complex and systemic that one is often reduced to cynicism.
What could such a small book offer that could even begin to address such a titanic issue?

The answer is: Plenty!

Having experienced the criminal justice system from inside and out, top and bottom Colson speaks candidly about a subject he knows very well. From senior aid to the President in the White House to convicted criminal and prisoner; from ivy league lawyer to founder of an international prison ministry Colson brings enough experience and perspective to the issue that caused me to give his little book a chance.

What I found was a gem, a precious diamond of clarity in a mountain of confusing fools gold.

Colson begins with an examination of several schools of thought that have shaped our foundational philosophy towards criminal justice and reveals how we have arrived at the present state of affairs. His view that our understanding of anthropology shapes our philosophy of crime, punishment, and reformation is essential to any effort that would address the ills of the system.
Colson asks and answers some of the hardest questions facing modern society in a way that is candid and surprisingly refreshing.

Some reviewers are unable to rise above the polarization of politics. Their perception is thus reduced to a staging area for mere knee-jerk reactionism. It is better to examine arguments on the basis of their own merits rather than set out to shred them before careful contemplation. When prejudices abort objectivity any hope of consensus become a prey.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book. Even if you disagree with Colson's conclusions I would highly recommend that you critique your own positions as vigorously as you do Colson's.

Charles Colson was noted for his brief career as a top advisor to President Richard Nixon in the early 1970s until he pleaded guilty to criminal behavior in the Watergate scandal. Colson served 7 months in prison, but just prior to this, he converted to Christianity, as told by him in his own words with the book Born Again. Colson is a university educated man with degrees in law, and it shows in most of his writings. After prison, Colson began working seriously with reform in the American justice system, and founded the worldwide Prison Fellowship Ministries, the world's largest of its kind. He is still at it, preaching and teaching to inmates everywhere and advocating a drastically different and more effective format of dealing with the results of crime, punishment and rehabilitation.

Colson proposes to have prisons everywhere modeled on the Christian world view, instead of the usual natural or utopian world view. His claims bear impressive evidence that this viewpoint (of Christian redemption and transformation) is the only true way to bring down crime and deal with criminals. It is hard to disagree with what he says here, because statistics are overwhelmingly on his side. His bold doctrine that racism, poverty, or overcrowding are not responsible for crime rates, but that it arises with the problem of sin and rebellion in the individual are points that are hard to refute. I was struck by his clarity and persuasiveness in these matters, and I believe he is one of the few who are on the right track toward better future criminology and treatment of crime everywhere. Now, if only the right authorities would pay more attention.

Colson argues that the present criminal justice system is dysfunctional because it is built on a foundation of faulty assumptions, a skewed worldview. So before getting into his proposed reforms, the traces historically what led to the system being the way it is. "What is the origin of man and of laws that order human existence?" he asks on page 27. If one assumes that environment or genetics determine an individual's fate rather than human choice, he reaches a different conclusion than the Christian worldview that sees persons as individuals exercising free-will in their decisions. Colson cites data to make a solid case that individual choice is the valid framework.

He goes on to argue that incarceration is not the solution most desirable, although it is the one most widely used and commonly accepted without examination. Colson says a more realistic alternative is restorative justice, that personalizes crime, i.e., crime is against other people, not against the state. To have victimes and perpetrators engaged makes contritition more salient. Criminals can see the hurt they've caused to real people.

Colson gives examples of how prisons can be transformed into communities of restoration. Communities grow out of individiual choices. Colson makes a convincing case. As always he gives readers plenty to ponder. In this case he says there is a much better way of handling criminal justice than the system that is in operation today.

No surprise here. The Criminal Justice System is riddled with discrimination, and corruption. This book, and another must read: U.S. Customs Badge of Dishonor, show a revealing and disfunctional look into the facad we call the Criminal Justice System.