The prison's Victim Offender Reconciliation Group stages several fundraisers yearly. Group members also encourage each other to accept responsibility for their crimes.

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Ms. Brockett, who in her oversize orange T-shirt and flip-flops looked more like a contestant on “The Real World” than an inmate, shopped around for the best accommodations, travelocity.com style.

“It’s clean here,” she said, perched in a jail day room on the sort of couch found in a hospital emergency room. “It’s safe and everyone here is really nice. I haven’t had a problem with any of the other girls. They give me shampoo.”

For roughly $75 to $127 a day, these convicts — who are known in the self-pay parlance as “clients” — get a small cell behind a regular door, distance of some amplitude from violent offenders and, in some cases, the right to bring an iPod or computer on which to compose a novel, or perhaps a song.

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And check this out for an interesting reflection on Charles Dickens' description of a similar scheme at Newgate Prison.

“I feel relieved - this was so amazing they put so much work into (helping) all of us see that they haven't forgotten either,” she said.

“This was really awesome I had no idea what to expect, but this was great,” Cassidy said, her arms full of plaques and pictures of Derrick, which were presented to them.

“This is a day we come together to secure the rights for the victims and their families. This is a day when we as offenders take responsibility for what we did, while we help you all remember your loved ones,” one offender said during the ceremony.

Feeling relieved, Kuhicsko and Cassidy smiled amid their tears as they released balloons, as they do every July 24 to honor their son and brother.

“I am really glad we came today,” Kuhicsko said. “It really is nice to see that the offenders get it too, and that they are doing this for the victims.”

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Some of the 40 inmates also spoke of how Bryan and the self-help group have helped change their lives. Behind bars for such serious offenses as second-degree murder and accessory to murder, VORG members are challenged to face the harm they caused.

They also learn to say "I'm sorry" to victims, and come closer to forgiving themselves, said inmate Eric Brown. He said he found the courage to face the pain of his actions after listening to victim advocates like Bryan, and realizing how much courage it took to speak to them. His self-examination has been therapeutic, he said.

"What's left is that we are very, very sorry for what we've done," Brown said... .

Bryan recalled that at her first VORG meeting nearly two years ago she related how a drunk driver killed her 16-year-old, Raymond Joseph Vallejo. Afterwards, inmate Warren Bailey gave her the amends she never got from the driver by repeatedly telling her how sorry he was that her son died.

After that, she said she began climbing out of a pit of paralyzing grief and despair. "Little by little they've chipped away at me and helped me reach a place not to forgive John (the drunk driver) for killing

Raymond but to learn to live with the pain," she said.

Thursday, Bryan thanked them once more for helping her heal and for the MADD money. The $1,850 from inmates selling KFC dinners to other prisoners will help Bryan stage a June 23 MADD fundraiser on the five-year anniversary of her son's death.

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Offenders in the Restorative Justice Program made several posters for the event that included information on how often each type of crime occurs in the nation.

Potosi Correctional Center will have a ceremony at 10 a.m. Thursday while the prison in Bonne Terre will have a ceremony at 1 p.m. Thursday.

Community members are encouraged to join in the week’s activities and get involved in helping victims of crime.

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Lathan was one of several speakers for the Glen Meadows Memorial Park dedication ceremony Saturday, which kicked off Victims’ Rights Week in Safford, which will run through April 28. The park is near the intersection of Discovery Park Boulevard and 14th Avenue on Safford’s south side.

The event was sponsored by the ADOC, the Eastern Arizona College, The Home Depot, city of Safford, the Victim/Witness program and Stand Against Violence Everywhere committee, known as SAVE.

The ceremony included cutting the ribbon to a new play port built by inmates from the Arizona State Prison-Safford. Prison inmates held a food fund-raiser to purchase about $4,000 worth of materials for the project, and The Home Depot contributed $1,000 worth of materials.

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The law also requires the state to seize the money automatically, without waiting for victims to file claims. Previously, only about 19 percent of victims filed claims.

In addition, the department is collecting the money from the moment inmates arrive in a reception center, instead of waiting until they get to prison... .

The percentage has increased steadily since 1992, when it was first set at 20 percent of inmates' income. Legislators increased collections to 30 percent in 2003 and to 40 percent in 2005.

Restitution is an important idea. The question here is whether the increase is in fact a restorative response to the needs of victims and capacities of offenders, or is instead a retributive response to offenders. Clues to this are that the restitution is taken automatically, that the percentage has increased steadily, and that it will be collected whether victims file claims or not.

In the end, the commission says, retention of the death penalty in Kenya’s statutes portrays the country as a society that does not respect the sanctity of life or the ability of those who have committed crimes to learn and reform through restorative and rehabilitative justice. This negative stance affects Kenya’s desire to become a human rights state built and governed by the principles of basic rights, the commission observes.

The commission also wants the Kenya Prisons Service transformed into the Department of Correctional Services, as part of penal reforms.

This would facilitate restorative justice and rehabilitation of offenders as a key objective of the department... .

The Government, through the Kenya Prisons Service, facilitates programmes and activities on restorative justice. Alternatives to the death penalty, such as life sentences, with a focus on reform and rehabilitation of offenders, should be given a priority... .

The Government should seek to establish and implement a support system for relatives of murder victims to ensure they do not suffer further violation by virtue of the crime. This is part of the restorative justice system that should be set up.

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“The aim of restorative justice is to repair the harm caused by a criminal act by holding the offender accountable for his actions – and ultimately to facilitate dialogue between the victim and the perpetrator,” said Leeuwkop psychologist Justine Hunt.

The two went through the programme last year and have both come to terms with the incident.

“I’ve forgiven him and we’re friends now,” said Makamo.

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