Inmate wants to help victims heal

By Kevin Minske

	An Advent series on Catholic Social Teaching

Twenty-four years ago I was sent to prison after I was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted murder and armed robbery.

One of the many things I have learned during my years in prison is that people do not pursue positive personal change simply because they have been incarcerated. My own life was a direct reflection of that fact.

The first two years of my incarceration were consumed by the same behavior that resulted in my taking a life and harming so many others: drug and alcohol abuse, associations with violent people, for example.

My destructive choices led not only to prison, eventually they landed me in segregation - the prison within prison. It was in that cell that I yielded control of my life to Jesus Christ and committed to serve him forever.

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God loved and cared for us enough to restore my broken relationship with himself. He then revealed that I must make every effort to restore the relationships I had damaged (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).

I became involved with Restorative Justice in 2000 and began meeting with victims of other crimes, sharing my personal story, and engaging in small group discussions with other inmates about our responsibility to our victims.

I have learned that crime creates fear, fractures communities, destroys personal lives and robs victims of peace because of a perceived loss of control over their surroundings.

By taking a life I've created a debt I can never repay. Yet, my desire is to help my victims and others find a measure of healing in their lives as best I can.

I am attempting to do that through restorative justice.

Restorative justice helps victims hold offenders accountable for their behavior while providing meaningful opportunities for victim and community involvement in the criminal justice system. It is an effort to restore, where possible, what was taken away through crime.

One component of the overall Restorative Justice philosophy is victim/offender conferencing. In this process a victim and offender meet in a safe setting with a trained facilitator to discuss the circumstances and continuing impact of the offense.

On Jan. 25, 2006, I was blessed with the privilege of participating face-to-face in a victim/offender conference with one of the victims of my crime.

It was one of the most challenging, yet rewarding, situations I have faced in 24 years of incarceration. I wanted to participate in the meeting because I felt responsible to personally accept ownership for the harm I caused, directly express remorse and apologize for my actions, reassure my victims I harbored no animosity or ill will toward them in the future, and offer whatever answers I could to my victim's questions.

When our meeting took place, we shared for four hours non-stop. There were some uncomfortable moments and tears shed but also some laughter and reassurance. God began a great work of healing and restoration that day.

I know I now possess Christ's nature and complete forgiveness, yet I am careful not to abuse his grace by minimizing the horrendous effects of my past actions. While I alone bear the responsibility, many others still live with the consequences I've created.

At the same time, God's new nature within me empowers and equips me to effect positive change in an otherwise hopeless prison environment. I can help bring reconciliation between other offenders and their victims as well as continued spiritual and relational growth in my own life.

(Minske is an inmate at the Stanley Correctional Institution in Stanley, Wis.)