ON Valentine’s Day comes a heart-warming story of a creative St Andrew Parish Court judge who sentenced a juvenile offender to attend church every fortnight, report to a police station, and enrol in a school, instead of sending him to jail.

The minor, whose name was withheld to protect his identity, was charged with simple larceny and brought before the judge who opted to give him bail on condition that he goes to church every other week, and a log be kept and signed by the pastor to attest to his compliance.

The unusual story was carried in the latest edition of the church newspaper, Freedom Come Rain published out of Kingston, and drew effusive praise from one of the pioneers of the Restorative Justice Programme that is now a staple of the Ministry of Justice.

Taking apparent pity on the youngster, the female judge, who was also not named, decided to use her discretion to give the minor a chance at restoration by also ordering that he be enrolled in school and visit a police station regularly to help keep him on the straight and narrow.

“What she has done is allowed this young man to have the opportunity to be transformed by the renewing of his mind through the Kingdom of God, which is righteousness, peace and joy,” said Apostle Franz Fletcher of Church on the Rock St Andrew.

Fletcher saw the judge’s action as an example of restorative justice, recalling that he was part of a joint initiative some years ago between the Government and his church that created the Restorative Justice Programme which was permanently adopted by the justice ministry.

“I must commend this judge. I don’t have words enough to thank God for her decision because what she is doing is applying the spiritual solution that will manifest itself in the natural,” Fletcher was quoted by Freedom Come Rain as saying.

Urging other judges to follow suit, Apostle Fletcher recounted the story of another young man who was sent to him by the correctional services after serving 20 years out of a 40-year sentence for murder.

“We did not know what we were to do, but it turned out that he had eight A’ Level passes, and when we carried him to The University of the West Indies he did a test up there and the next thing we knew he got a scholarship to do psychology.

“He came out head of his class, and they gave him another scholarship to do law. This is after being at the General Penitentiary [now Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre]. He was later employed at Cornwall Regional Hospital but today, as I speak, he is in the United States at a large hospital as assistant administrator,” said Fletcher.

According to the church organ, there was yet another example of a youth who was caught with a gun and bullets and was put on probation by the Supreme Court, adding: “I had to go down to ‘Jungle’ [Arnett Gardens] every night to make certain he was in bed by 8:30 pm. I had to see to it that he was in school. The church had to buy his books and pay his fees.”

The pastor said the St Andrew Parish Court judge had acted “under the influence of the Holy Spirit” and had gone to the real heart of the matter, because “instead of these dancehall influences, that fellow is going to be exposed to the Kingdom of God”.

“When youngsters get in trouble with the law we must position ourselves to be the safety net,” he declared, criticising his fellow clerics for locking up the churches every day of the week but turning up on Sunday where “everybody enjoys service and the sermon and goes home”.

“We now have to get out of the church, align ourselves with the people, and find out what is happening with the police; get the lay of the land from the senior superintendent of the area, find out where the hot spots are and begin to travail in prayer. That is the practical aspect of our salvation,” Fletcher argued.

Giving a plug for the State’s restorative justice programme, he said: “We have too much talent locked up in a di lock-up. At the discretion of the courts, I pray in Jesus’s name that restorative justice would restore the lives of Jamaicans…”