Penzeys One Magazine

Restorative Justice

Jim Fetherston

Federal probation officer Jim Fetherston unintentionally started his career in criminal justice during college. He accepted an internship at a halfway house as a way to earn credits toward his political science degree. "I loved it so I ended up double majoring in political science and sociology," says Jim. "I found I enjoyed working with the people. Growing up, my dad was a part-time police officer. I always wanted to be a lawyer but working in the halfway house I developed an affinity for being a social worker. So all three things I wanted to do, being a cop, being involved in law, and being a social worker, I could do in this field."

Married 11 years and a father of three, Jim worked his way through the county corrections system and eventually landed his federal job after getting his masters in criminal justice. He currently works in pre-trial services. "When individuals are arrested, we assess their risk of non-appearance and their potential danger to the community in what's called a bond study report. That goes to the judge at their initial appearance so they have some background information to make a decision." Part of that assessment is interviewing the person and trying to contact family members or friends to verify the information so the judge has a reasonable basis for detention or release on bond. If a defendant is released on bond, the judge will set the conditions for the release. "Our office is responsible for enforcing those conditions. Whether it is drug testing, drug treatment, mental health assessments, electronic monitoring or just having them report to our office that they are in town."

Jim's particular function is kind of a middle stage called pre-sentence reporting. "I do a more extensive background investigation on each individual after they have pled or been found guilty. I interview the defendant, I interview family members, and I work with the assistant U.S. attorneys to put together a description of the offense for the judge. All this goes toward determining the sentencing guideline."

Sentencing guidelines work almost like a mathematical table based on the seriousness of the crime and prior offenses. There are 6 criminal history categories and 43 offense levels. "If you have a criminal history category of 6 and your offense level is 43, the guideline of prison range is life. And it goes down from there. It's an equation is what it comes down to." By the same token, if both your categories are 1 the guideline says 0-6 months. The guidelines are not mandatory so the judge has some discretion.

It was in Jim's early years at the halfway house where he learned the importance of rehabilitation and restorative justice. "We ran house programs that worked on individual development. Even basic skills like opening a checking account, getting a savings account, interviewing for a job, just basic life skills that they may have been lacking." It was a difficult transition for many of these men. "We had a lot of middle aged guys that had been in for ten, twelve years. Society just kind of passed them by. Things had changed dramatically during that time. They missed the 80s." Jim adds, "We also had young first offenders who were on probation and didn't have a of lot skill development for whatever reason, lack of parental involvement, drug use, alcohol abuse."

Part of the education process revolved around mealtime. "Every resident would have to come up with their own shopping list. Then staff would take one or two people along and do all the shopping for the whole house. They were somewhat limited in their budget but if they had jobs they needed a lunch so they would be responsible for getting lunch meat, bread and all the things they would need for that."

The house would also establish a menu so every night different residents would be responsible for cooking dinner. "Part of the rehab was the responsibility of cooking the meal. It was also the learning process of cooking for themselves and others because it was something a lot these guys didn't do. They would always be eating fast food or going out. They never learned to cook a meal." Jim generally worked a 24-hour shift on the weekend. "Usually on the weekends tacos were the big thing. They would make like 5 pounds of taco meat and everyone would sit down and just dig in. It was fun... a good time. That's when most interaction would occur, around the dinner table."

Yet rehabilitation can start long before they get to a halfway house. "Restorative justice can start, if the individual is looking to change, from the time of the arrest on because services are offered at that point. If someone is released on conditions of bond that call for random drug testing and treatment and they get involved with the treatment program - really internalize the lessons - they can learn in that setting. They can learn a lifetime of lessons. Granted, they still might go to prison in between, but the whole structure of rehabilitation has started." Still, it is important for the offender to continue with the different programs available while in prison. "They have substance abuse treatment, education opportunities, employment opportunities, vocational training programs, all centered around the end product - giving the person a better chance of having a successful transition back into society than the day they went in."

Through Federal Prison Industries (commonly called UNICOR) inmates are given the opportunity to learn job skills, including management, while producing goods and services, which are sold to the Federal Government. UNICOR's focus is to help offenders get the job skills necessary to make the transition from prison to society as law-abiding citizens. As Jim puts it, "Picking cigarette butts out of the prison yard does not translate to a skill when they get out. There are only so many county jobs where you clean up the parks and they don't hire felons." He adds, "The way to minimize the risk of re-offending is to provide alternatives to the individual. Incarceration is punishment first so obviously they're not going to re-offend while in there. But if you want to create an individual that is going to have a lower risk of re-offending, you have to provide a program. Dropping them in an 8 x 8 cell isn't going to rehabilitate anyone. It may be a deterrent because they don't want to go back to an 8 x 8 cell. But they need to have tangible skills or address the areas that brought them to the criminal justice system in the first place."

Another challenge Jim faces is dealing with people who think they have committed "victimless" crimes such as drug dealing. "A lot of times guys think that if they just move one kilo from here to there, nobody got hurt. What they're not looking at is when that kilo got there, it was cut and distributed to six dealers who each distributed it to six more dealers who then distributed it to 600 people out on the street who now all have smoked one rock of crack cocaine from your one kilo. Who knows what crimes they will commit? There is no connection for them." In Jim's opinion there are three main reasons why people are in custody: substance abuse, greed, and mental illness. "In the cases I see regularly, the crimes of violence like a bank robbery are mostly fueled by substance abuse. Trying to get to the next fix."

Yet when their sentence is complete, it is important for society to find a way to let these people back in. "The community needs to accept that individuals have been convicted of what they've done. They've done their time," says Jim. "If they are back in the community, they still need opportunities to succeed. Limiting those opportunities will just lead to more recidivism and more problems."

vol1 issue5, 2006

Jim Fetherston