Conflict Solutions Center in Santa Maria has helped thousands of people find constructive and healing solutions to conflict since it began in 1989. Through mediation, CSC offers an alternative to the expense and animosity of litigation, opening doors of understanding and communication.
Kimberly Rosa
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Restorative Justice is one of CSC's primary focuses. "Crime doesn't just affect the offender and the courts," says Executive Director Kimberly Rosa. "Our current system addresses crime as something the offender did against the state. Restorative Justice takes a broader view of the crime, looking at the people impacted and the community."
She illustrates her point with the story of The Stolen Bicycle. Two boys stole a bicycle from school. Traditionally, the boys would appear in court with their parents, who would pay a fine. The boys would be placed on probation.
But the case is referred to CSC as part of its Restorative Justice program. The boys and their mothers sit in a circle with the victim of the crime, who turns out to be a beloved staff member. One cannot even look at her as she relates the consequences of the boys' crime.
A single mother, her bicycle was her only form of transportation to her part-time job at the school. Every morning she rode with her toddler in a bike cart behind her to her child's pre-school, and then biked to work. When the bicycle disappeared, she had to find another way to get to work and alternate care for her child. Her whole life was turned upside down.
Restitution has been made. Now tears, apologies, and an agreement to start over follow. It's hard to imagine the boys thoughtlessly stealing another bike. It's not just a bike. It's someone's bike.
After two decades in the field of community mediation, when Kimberly began to learn about Restorative Justice, it made sense to her. The victim of a violent crime as a young woman, her first reaction was, "When do I get to talk to him?" But it was against the rules for her to confront the man who beat her, stabbed her, strangled her, and left her for dead.
The court process was its own trauma. "I thought you go in, tell the truth, and then justice happens," she recalls. In her case, justice took 34 years, when the man who nearly killed her was charged with another woman's murder. Kimberly appeared at his sentencing in another state, prepared to read her written statement recounting her attack. Her presence resulted in the man's confession of his guilt.
CSC is now working with the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office, the Public Defender's Office, and the Probation Department to expand its offerings. Kimberly says under new guidelines, CSC will be able to offer Restorative Justice services to victims of felony offenses, as well as misdemeanor crimes. Victims have the opportunity to have their fears allayed, she says. They often wonder, Why me? Was I targeted? Who are these people?
With Restorative Justice, victims are central. They get answers to their questions, tell their stories, and participate in decisions about consequences for those who wronged them. When offenders are willing to face people they hurt and listen to their pain, there's a different quality of outcome: healing, closure, and often a more meaningful remedy, in terms of damages.
In a culture that oddly depersonalizes crime, even as more and more people move through the criminal justice system, Restorative Justice helps people become real to one another. In the process, truth is revealed, trauma begins to heal and mercy becomes more than a word.
