This is on the media. I'm Bob Garfield. Last week on the show, we examined the power of the

prosecutor in our justice system. The DA is even more powerful than judges, criminal defense

attorneys, probation, the governor, the mayor, anyone. And how voters are electing a new wave

of so-called progressive prosecutors to try to turn the tide on mass incarceration.

If you haven't heard it yet, be sure to check it out. It was part one of a three-part

series we're calling Repairing Justice. This is part two. We've talked about how the law and

order approach doesn't work and that we don't want to keep locking people in jail for every infraction.

But that raises the question, what then do we do to address injustice when it appears?

Rather than the isolation and violence that prison breeds, some advocates propose there should be a new approach, one based not on

punishment, but on truth and reconciliation. It's called restorative justice.

Danielle Sered is the executive director of Common Justice, an organization based in New York City

that has pioneered the practice of restorative justice

with violent offenders at a local level.

Danielle, welcome to On the Media.

Thank you so much for having me.

Let's start with assumptions.

Someone does something violent, and the best thing to do is lock them up for as long as possible,

which, you know, doesn't on the face of it sound like a foolish proposition.

Rapists, murderers, people who kick old ladies in the face on subway cars,

they need to be dealt with.

What's wrong with that assumption?

So the fact that people who cause serious harm need to be dealt with is entirely right.

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