Friday, August 04, 2006

[USA] For juvenile offenders, a measure of justice that heals / Bostbn Globe, 3 Aug 2006

http://digbig.com/4mffx
Sally Heaney
Teens go not to court, but to a program with the victim to sort the problem out. When Sam Zucker of Concord was 13, he was part of a group of middle school kids who spray-painted graffiti on the sides of buildings around town. The police caught him, and he had to do a number of things to make up for his crimes, including painting over some of the graffiti and working for two days for free at one of the vandalized businesses. But the incident did not leave Zucker, now 19, with a criminal record, even a juvenile one. He was not involved with the court system at all. And he has not been in legal trouble since." [Restorative Justice; Young Offenders]