Restorative Justice

This whole semester we have learned about what Queer means, Queer issues, Queer movement and now Queer justice. But what does Queer even mean? I wrote earlier in the semester I wrote a blog post about the definition of Queer and my definition is everyone that does not fit the norm in one aspect or another, so in its essence we are all Queer. Very few people fit into the binary society has given out. Therefore we should all be working towards a justice that will benefit those who do not fit into the "prefect" binary we have put out. I find that when looking at justice issues I lean more towards Restorative justice and less towards Retributive justice. Many know the difference between the two and it seems pretty clear just by the names but for my own sanity I am going to explain the difference starting with retributive justice.

Retributive justice is the idea of an eye for an eye. This is seen very clearly in our justice system today for example the death penalty. I took a class all about the death penalty this semester and seeing it come up in our books drove home how much of a problem the death penalty. The death penalty is an eye for an eye because if a person kills someone then they will be killed themselves in a lot of cases but it also depends on location, class, and race. When retributive justice is used it tends to back fire because of the justice system we have today is very biased on what punishments are given. As we read in Queer (In)justice, jail was seen as an easy punishment for a lesbians and gays because they are surround by people they could have sexual relations with so they should be put to death (when they have murdered someone). I don't care what anyone has ever said about jail after visiting one I find it sickening to hear anyone say this. It is not a joy ride, these people are trapped in a jail cell and the few times they get to stretch their legs they have to fight for their lives because jail is a punishment. Retributive justice has brought us to the society of death we have today because it shows society that the only way to receive justice is if that other person has the same thing done to them leading to a world of hate and death. But on the other hand the is restorative justice.

Restorative justice leads to great healing when crimes are committed especially crimes of hate, sexual assault, and murder. In my death penalty class we had a man, Bob Autobee (hispanic), come and visit us talking about restorative justice and how it healed his family and himself from the hurt and anger he suffered after his son's murder. His son was a prison guard and during his shift and inmate killed him.  Bob was filled with hate until he almost died but once he saw light and forgave the murderer he was able to be whole again. He had a session with his sons murderer and heard his side of the story and finally understand why his son died. This is the justice we need, especially for the Queer community.  When we read about the injustice committed against the queer community I know it made everyone in our class sick to think this could happen to people. How could we live in a world where queer people are not sentence to a jail sentence but to death because jail is to easy for them. They need to be held accountable for their actions but in a compassionate way because they are more likely to be killed in jail, put on death row, or beaten to death. But with restorative justice they can become a better person and hopefully learn from their mistakes.

Restorative justice doesn't only apply to those who have committed the crime it is so immortal for this who were beaten by cops to have an opportunity to have that op apologize for causing that person harm. The cop also needs to realize what they are doing is wrong and they are able to do that with healing instead of you have been bad your fired or now you are going to jail. The fixes nothing and puts people who come out of jail even worse than when they went in. My cousin runs a nonprofit that puts survivors of sexual assault with those who sexually assaulted them to have an opportunity to talk and create some healing for both people. Those who commit crimes usually feel horrible and the victims cannot carry around hate because in the end it only hurts them There needs to be both forgiveness, healing and accountability on all sides of the situation.

Queer people and people of color experience hate everyday but are never given the justice they deserve. They do not deserve to carry around hate in their hearts for their entire lives because they are being beaten and abused by the rest of society because the rest of society see them as beneath them. They need to have a chance to say how they are affect by actions of other people and have a chance to have a dialogue to reach a place of understanding and maybe even forgiveness. The anger we carry around in todays society is eating at us we are hurting because we hate and we think the only way to fix things to to destroy and to kill but the only creates more anger and more hurt. If our society could learn to be compassionate and forgiving maybe we need to have wars and maybe we need to to put other people down... maybe, just maybe we could have a society that treats each others as equals and have equal rights. But we will never succeed at this if we hold anger and hatred for one another. We need to use restorative just so that we are all working to become better people and once we forgive one another, we are able to move on and create the society we all deserve. It is not just for Queer people it is for the world and the society where no one fits that binary because we are all a little queer in one way or another so lets start being compassionate and forgiving then we can have the world we want.