Resolved, the House of _______ concurring, That the 76th General Convention commend to the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music to proclaim the third Sunday of November each year Restorative Justice Sunday.

EXPLANATION

Restorative Justice Week is observed in the third week of November. Its purpose is to raise public awareness of incarcerated men and women and the causes and consequences of crime, and to pray for and contemplate solutions. We need to find Godly solutions to the social problems of society. Incarceration is not the answer to drug addiction, mental illness and poverty.
 
The United States has the highest incarceration rates of any developed nation in the world. As of June 30, 2007 - 2,299,116 prisoners were held in federal or state prisons or in local jails. [New Jersey alone incarcerates as many as 27,000 prisoners.]
 
Incarceration has an impact that extends far beyond the men and women who are imprisoned. The majority of women and men in prison are parents of dependent children and there are many concerns about intergenerational crime and putting these children at risk.