Legal thriller “How To Get Away With Murder” addressed restorative justice TWICE onscreen. In 2016, a client passionately championed leniency for the young man who killed her son.
Her reasoning? Her son is dead - ruining someone else’s son’s life isn’t the answer.
Black Lives Matter leaders wrote and acted in the drama “Good Trouble.” In 2022, two characters even openly advocate abolishing the police in front of a politician and her wife - a former officer! "I don’t believe there are any good cops," one argues.
“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” the sitcom depicting “a cuddlier version of the NYPD,” premiered its final season with “The Good Ones.” It faced criticism when one character QUIT the institutionally rotten force - while others went back to business as usual.
“On My Block” is a teenage drama, but it’s also tackled restorative justice. When leading character Ruby visits the childhood friend who shot him in jail, they end up bonding over how the system has harmed them both.
When Ruby asks to help, his former friend, fearful of adult prison, replies, “Can you keep me from turning 18?”
85% of Americans already agree a criminal legal system should rehabilitate, NOT punish. In a world where television influences us, and never forget that we influence television. And THAT needs to be represented onscreen. The more of us challenging the system, the better!