Colorado is defined by many amazing things, and Upper Arkansas River Valley residents do not have to look far for proof. Fourteeners abound, lending to one of the state’s proudest statistics of housing the most of these visual phenomena nationwide. But there is a lesser known fact, equally amazing in its own right, that defines Colorado and has it metaphorically, rather than physically, towering above the nation. By the most important measures, Colorado uniquely and unequivocally leads the U.S. in its pioneering of, leadership for and commitment to restorative justice.
For those unfamiliar, restorative justice is a victim-centered, nonpenal approach to conflict resolution that focuses on accepting responsibility and repairing harms. While most associate this approach as a successful alternative to the U.S. criminal justice system, restorative practices can be successfully implemented for conflicts of all types. For the families and communities of Central Colorado, access to restorative justice and practices is readily available through the services provided by Full Circle Restorative Justice, a nonprofit, grass-roots organization based in Salida. For more information on FCRJ, visit FullCircleRJ.org.
So what makes Colorado a leader in restorative justice? First, Colorado overwhelmingly leads the nation in legislation explicitly supporting restorative justice as is evidenced by the ongoing work of Denver University Professor Shannon M. Sliva. In 2015, Professor Sliva published an important piece of research in the Journal of Policy Practice with the purpose of forming “a unified, complete directory of state-level restorative justice statutes in the United States.”
While acknowledging that “statutory analysis is interpretative by nature,” the study demonstrated that Colorado, at that time, had 37 separate statutes for restorative justice within the parameters the researchers established. Thirty-seven! The state that came in after Colorado? Vermont with 21. No other state was found to have double-digit results.
Importantly, Professor Sliva continues this research at Denver University, where she maintains, as a public resource, the Restorative Justice Legislative Directory. The directory can be found at SocialWork.du.edu. By legislative acts alone, the proof is there – Colorado is a pioneer and leader in restorative justice.
But Colorado’s leadership in this field doesn’t end with having the most laws on the books. Its commitment to restorative justice is demonstrated by the number and diversity of organizations carrying out these laws statewide. This is evidenced by a report released in 2019 by the Colorado Restorative Justice Coordinating Council entitled “State of the State, Restorative Justice in Colorado.”
In the report, researchers found that 58 different organizations offer a form of restorative practices across Colorado. Those organizations include “an extensive network of schools, universities, government offices, correctional agencies and community-based organizations.” Interestingly, the report found that community-based organizations – those like FCRJ – implement the largest number of restorative practices with nonprofits managing a range of less than 10 to more than 250 cases per year. In other words, access to restorative justice within Colorado is as robust as its legal framework.
What does all this mean for an organization like FCRJ and the communities of Central Colorado? It means that while FCRJ is a grass-roots, local organization, its work is supported by thousands of fellow Coloradans, including lawmakers, law enforcement, conflict resolution practitioners, counselors, volunteers, participants and advocates, who share a conviction that restorative justice and practices are worth pursuing. And for the people of Colorado who have or will participate in restorative justice, it may just provide an alternative path that surpasses even the highest of Colorado’s peaks.
Jared Buchan is the community services manager for Full Circle Restorative Justice.
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