OF PEOPLE COMING TOGETHER,
TRYING TO BREAK THAT CYCLE OF
VIOLENCE.
>> MY NAME IS RON.
>> RON HERBERT CONVICTED OF
SECOND-DEGREE MURDER FOR THE
1990 KILLING OF A NORTHEASTERN
UNIVERSITY STUDENT.
>> IT'S JUST SO OVERWHELMING.
IT'S LIKE MIND BOGGLING.
>> IN AND OUT OF PRISON HIS
WHOLE LIFE G. RIGHT NOW HE'S
SERVING 10-15 YEARS FOR STABBING
HIS HALF-BROTHER IN THE EYE.
>> IT'S SOMETHING THAT WILL HARM
ME FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.
>> AND CHRIS, SERVING LIFE AFTER
KILLING HIS NEIGHBOR.
ALL THREE MEN ARE INMATES IN
NORFOLK, AROUND PARTICIPATE IN
THE RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
RESPONSIBILITY RETREAT.
THEY ARE SHARING STORIES,
OPENING UP WITH A MIX OF PEOPLE
FROM PROSECUTORS TO PARENTS
WHOSE CHILDREN WERE MURDERED.
>> IT'S A WAY OF LIFE, IT'S A
PHILOSOPHY.
>> THIS LADY IS DIRECTOR OF THE
PRISON PROJECT WHICH HOPED BRING
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PROGRAMS
INTO MASSACHUSETTS PRISONS.
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IS A
DIFFERENT APPROACH TO CRIMINAL
JUSTICE.
NOT FOCUSED ON CRIME AND
PUNISHMENT, BUT INSTEAD ON
ACCOUNTABILITY AND MAKING
AMENDS, WITH A GOAL OF BREAKING
THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE.
>> A HUNDRED YEARS OF
INCARCERATION WILL NOT GET YOU
THERE.
IF AN INCARCERATED PERSON CANNOT
CONNECT THE DOTS.
WHAT WAS THE THING THAT LED TO
THE THING THAT HAD YOU SITTING
IN A PRISON FOR THE NEXT 30
YEARS OF YOUR LIFE.
>> THE RETREAT IS AN
INTRODUCTION TO RESTORATIVE
JUSTICE FOR MANY INMATES WHO CAN
THEN SIGN UP FOR MORE INTENSIVE
MULTIWEEK PROGRAMS.
>> EVERYONE IS BROKEN IN SOME
SORT OF WAY.
NOW IT'S TIME TO REALIZE IT AND
TO FIX YOURSELF.
>> THEY ARE ALL RESTORATIVE
JUSTICE VETERANS.
>> WHAT IS THAT LIKE GOING
FACE-TO-FACE WITH THE PARENT OF
A VICTIM OF A CRIME?
>> IT'S HARD.
I REMEMBER I SAT IN A CIRCLE, I
DIDN'T EVEN WANT TO TALK.
I FELT ASHAMED.
I FELT LIKE I WAS DISGRACED.
>> I HAD NO VALUES.
>> MY VALUES WERE JUST ROBBING
AND STEALING FROM PEOPLE.
>> HERBERT WILL BE RELEASED ON
PAROLE SOON AND HE'S LEARNED A
VALUABLE LESSON THAT WILL HELP
TO KEEP HIM OUT OF TROUBLE.
>> I LEARNED EMPATHY.
IT'S VERY IMPORTANT.
THAT IT TAUGHT ME.
>> HE INSISTS RESTORATIVE
JUSTICE IS HELPING HIM BREAK HIS
OWN CYCLE OF VIOLENCE.
>> WHAT'S DIFFERENT THIS TIME?
>> THIS TIME, I DROPPED THE
MASK.
INSTEAD OF MASKING MY PROBLEMS I
DEAL WITH MY PROBLEMS.
THE HARM I DID TO THE VICTIM WAS
MY HALF-BROTHER BUT IT WASN'T
EVEN THAT I CAN GO BACK TO THE
HARM I DID TO MY CHILDREN BY NOT
BEING THERE.
THE TRAUMA THAT THEY HAVE, I
NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT.
>> NOW, INMATES WHO PARTICIPATE
IN INTENSIVE 34 W
