Policy Reform and External Outreach
Legislative Manual
Restorative Justice
Thoughtful legislative reform is critical to ensuring our criminal laws are not solely punitive, but also serve to rehabilitate while ensuring the highest level of public safety. For that reason District Attorney Ryan was an early supporter of Criminal Justice Reform legislation including sponsoring several pieces of the Senate bill such as the restorative justice language that was included in the final bill to establish statewide practices to intervene in the lives of at-risk youth and young adults. As part of this ongoing commitment each year, District Attorney Ryan partners with members of the legislature to co-sponsor legislative proposals that seek further reforms to our criminal justice system. We are providing legislative briefing books from years 2015, 2017, and 2019 here which reflect some of the overarching policy priorities for this office.
District Attorney Ryan has been a leader in establishing restorative justice practices and strongly supports restorative justice as a tool for creating lasting change. We are committed to utilizing Restorative Justice partnerships to further the goals of interviewing in the lives of at-risk youth to prevent crime, reduce juvenile deliquency, and to provide youth with opportunities for positive change. Throught partnerships with both Communities for Restorative Justice (C4RJ) of Concord, and Our RJ of Lowell, we are working to expand the opportunities for restorative justice practices to be utilized throughout the county.
These programs have been welcomed by police and schools alike, and participants largerly report a substantive learning experience beyond what they have expected of the court experience. Information sessions and trainings about Restorative Justice practices continue to be conducted throughout Middlesex County to familiarize those who work directly with at-risk youth. As part of our efforts to expand the use of Restorative Justice we regularly meet with community leaders and police chiefs to educate them on how to utilize this practice. Below we have attached a spreadsheet which includes data on the use of restorative justice and programs in cases prosecuted by this office, updated through January 8, 2020.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 2015 MDAO Legislative Manual | 5.78 MB |
| 2017 MDAO Legislative Manual | 10.33 MB |
| 2019 MDAO Legislative Manual | 4.28 MB |
| Restorative Justice Data - Updated 1.8.2020 | 74.25 KB |
| DA Ryan Supportive of Criminal Justice Reform | 127.37 KB |
| SB 847 - An Act promoting restorative justice practices | 140.5 KB |
| Fact Sheet supporting An Act promoting restorative justice practices | 62.51 KB |
| CBJ Report 2020 | 337.22 KB |