Myth in Restorative Justice History

Although history matters, it is not the only thing that matters. Empirical evidence of restorative justice's utility matters as much as, if not more than, restorative justice history-and it seems far less contested. To this end, there is no need for restorative justice to create a "golden age" of past mercy and restoration. The fact that past societies employed criminal justice processes that were simultaneously brutal, illiberal, and class-conscious can be accepted.

That these processes may have existed simultaneously with more restorative processes may be accepted-but even these processes, whether victim-oriented, or seeking to restore balance, are nevertheless radically incompatible with our current ideals of individual sovereignty and liberty. There is simply no reason why advocates need to create a false context about how "it used to be." Instead, they should focus on what should be.