28 Days, 834 Cases

 _{May 26, 2022} 

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old father of five, was murdered by then-Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, sparking nationwide protests against police brutality and injustice.  Five months later, on October 26, 2020, Walter Wallace, Jr., a Philadelphia resident and a 27-year-old father of nine children, was shot and killed by two Philadelphia Police Department officers following a mental health crisis call to 911, sparking another wave of racial injustice protests in Philadelphia.

While the majority of mass demonstrations in Philadelphia during this period were peaceful, in some instances, businesses and communities were vandalized and burglarized. These destructive acts had ripple effects in communities that also happened to be the most disproportionately impacted by systemic racism, whether through redlining or overpolicing or disinvestment. Pharmacies that were cleaned out harmed people who rely on prescription medications. Shuttered grocery stores worsened inaccessibility of nutritious and affordable meals in food deserts.

The unrest negatively impacted small business owners and workers, many of whom supported the spirits of the protests against injustice.

Nearly half of cases opened were approved by the courts for existing diversion programs, which hold defendants accountable through requirements such as community service and substance use disorder treatment and do not result in a criminal record. More serious and violent cases, including all cases involving assault and weapons, were prosecuted normally to conviction and sentencing.

But a significant number of cases involved young Black and brown Philadelphia residents, who had no prior criminal record, and who engaged in non-violent conduct that was specific to the environment of the unrest. Restorative justice, which through programming and mediation allows defendants and victims to process trauma and healing together outside of jails and courtrooms, was determined to be a more appropriate approach for these cases.

In partnership with community and faith leaders, the District Attorney’s Office, Philadelphia Defender, and Up Against the Law Legal Collective created the Restorative Response Program to resolve cases involving people who were arrested for non-violent offenses. Defendants arrested in relation to the two periods of civil unrest and who were approved by the courts for the Restorative Response Program were required to complete education sessions, programming such as job training and other community re-engagement opportunities, and to participate in restorative justice circles organized by the Metropolitan Christian Council of Philadelphia. People harmed by the unrest including business owners participated in the restorative justice circles, and when applicable received restitution from defendants.

"This sweeping use of restorative justice and its impressive success in terms of reducing recidivism and enabling people who have violated the law to be accountable without breaking them and their capacity to lead productive lives is proof of concept that restorative justice will work more generally in appropriate cases both in adult and juvenile court. The criminal legal system should hold people who harm others accountable, while producing outcomes that increase public safety by strengthening communities. Incapacitating people when it is unnecessary disables people from working, owning homes, providing for their families, paying taxes that support our schools, and otherwise thriving in ways that make us safer and improve Philadelphia." Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner