Ben Proudfoot’s recently released documentary Forgiving Johnny (9/6/23) explores the potential for participation in diversion programs as a means of restorative justice. Restorative justice often conjures mental images of circle talks in prisons and schools, but it can also occur completely outside of that environment. Diversion programs exist as an alternative to punitive incarceration for those charged with criminal offenses, and for Johnny, it saved his life.
Forgiving Johnny examines the experience of Los Angeles County Public Defender Noah Cox as he encountered Johnny’s case. Johnny’s file ended up on Noah’s desk after he was charged with residential burglary, criminal threats, and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury. Noah quickly realized that circumstances completely beyond Johnny’s control brought him to this position.
“This was a life that was predestined to have severe difficulties. It wasn’t Johnny’s choice” (Noah Cox, 3:41).
Born with lead in his blood to an alcohol-addicted mother, he spent years living on the streets until he was taken in by his elder sister following the untimely death of his mother. Elda Torres, Johnny’s older sister, and her husband raised Johnny as their own, but things were difficult. He struggled with behavioral issues, and he found himself interacting with the criminal justice system beginning at a young age.
One night, Johnny went to Elda’s house drunk and began to attack and choke Elda’s husband. Out of desperation, his family called the police for help, and Johnny ended up being arrested and booked in jail. The family did not want Johnny to go to jail—they just needed support during a crisis, yet he was held in jail for over a year.
“It was the chance to move on from a really, really bad moment and make a future from it” (Noah Cox, 13:45).
Johnny’s public defender was their only chance to bring Johnny home and prevent him from spending up to twenty years in prison. A mental health diversion program was proposed by Noah as an option for Johnny “to get help and keep his record clean” after he acknowledged that Johnny had clear mental struggles due to the circumstances in his upbringing (10:15).
“Trying to find grace for my clients in a rigid justice system is very hard” (Noah Cox, 2:48).
But it takes a lot of time to apply for diversion programs as it involves gathering enough evidence in the thousands of pages in the client’s file, and for a public defender, “paper equals time.” (10:35) Time was also an issue for the survivors, as Elda had forgiven Johnny, but her husband needed more time before he was prepared to forgive.
“Forgiveness is the best thing we can have because it can make our heart free. My husband has to make the choice to forgive him or not” (Elda Torres, 12:10).
Elda’s family missed Johnny, so they maintained contact with Noah’s progress on Johnny’s application for diversion. With an emphasis on Johnny’s difficult circumstances that led him to enact violence, the diversion application also revealed that Johnny’s family, including the survivor, wanted him to be free. Luckily, the application for diversion was eventually accepted by the judge, and the charges brought against Johnny were dropped in favor of his participation in a mental health diversion program. It wasn’t until Johnny’s acceptance and participation in the diversion program that he was able to make amends with his family, and he was forgiven by Elda’s brother. It took time to heal and dedication to Johnny’s involvement in the diversion program for him to be forgiven.
“If you’re having trouble forgiving somebody else, I understand, and I don’t blame you for not wanting to or even not being able. Forgiveness is a gift, and gifts aren’t expected. So, I don't expect somebody to forgive somebody. It’s not an expectation. If you can find it, that’s grace” (Noah Cox, 15:35).
With the documentary noting that roughly 25% of incarcerated people have a developmental disability, the importance of increased access to diversion programs is made clear. For Johnny, his diversion program allowed him to receive support with his developmental struggles, avoid spending the next twenty years of his life behind bars, and repair his relationship with his family—each of these outcomes is aligned with the goals of restorative justice. Importantly, the survivor’s needs for Johnny to participate in the diversion program, heal, and give an honest apology were met through this alternative to incarceration. Without Johnny, Elda’s family felt incomplete, and removing him from the situation did little to actually repair the harm that was done—instead, the diversion program gave him the opportunity to make his community whole again.
Forgiving Johnny demonstrates that restorative justice practices can be implemented in the criminal legal system in practical and measurable methods, such as increasing funding of public defender’s offices, prioritizing the needs of survivors of harm, and promoting diversion programs as meaningful alternatives to incarceration.
Link to the documentary: https://time.com/6311088/forgiving-johnny-documentary/
Link to trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq1cVhjI0Ww