Production Notes

On the way to telling this story of reconciliation, I almost told one about retribution and hatred.

It was 1999, and I was asked to make a documentary to be part of a series about “Justice.” I was interested in the families of people serving time for terrible crimes. What was it like for them? How were they dealing with the shame or anger or guilt that their child had brought to the family?

I learned of a recent double murder in Chicago. Two brothers, both gang members, were killed by a rival gang member in a brutal and bloody act of revenge. The murderer had been sentenced to a long prison term, and I contacted both families, who agreed to tell their stories.

Soon it became clear that not only were the victims’ parents filled with pain and rage, but the murderer’s family blamed the two victims for provoking the revenge killing. After spending a day filming each family, I saw that my documentary would only serve to inflame the situation. The opinions that each father expressed were so filled with violence and hate for the other family that it seemed that this documentary could easily lead to one father killing another.

But I had a deadline and it was too late to change course. So I continued, searching for a way to make a positive contribution with my film. I was saved when one family’s attorney insisted that they withdraw from the project.

Then I learned about the Youngs and the Ramoses. They lived near me, and I had seen a story in a neighborhood paper. Theirs seemed to be such personal journeys that I doubted they would agree to talk about it so publicly. But the Young’s had already found that sharing the story of losing their son was healing, and agreed.

The murderer’s parents, Manuel and Maria Ramos, speak very little English. I approached them through their priest, Father Bob Oldershaw, who was very protective of them. Yet he knew the healing power of sharing a painful story, and he agreed with the approach that I intended to take. The interview that I conducted through a translator was the first time the Ramoses had ever told their story.

Before meeting these families, I had never heard the words “restorative justice.” And the phrase was never used in any interview I conducted. Restorative Justice programs across the country have served a vital role in providing a structure and model for a different kind of justice. Yet A Justice That Heals is the story of a group of people who “lived it.” Achieving this degree of reconciliation without some kind of formal restorative justice program is very difficult, and occurred in this case only because of a unique set of circumstances: First, the murder was witnessed by a police officer, so there was no chance of Mario Ramos denying his guilt. Second, Father Oldershaw met the Young family quite by accident and was “forced” to confront them while he ministered to the murderer’s family, who were his parishioners. And finally, Maurine Young possessed a religious faith that, through her pain and anger, led her to contemplate a course of forgiveness.

Yet, despite the uniqueness of the circumstances and the absence of a formal “restorative justice” structure, their story serves as an inspiration for people and communities facing similar tragedies and challenges.

Character profiles of key people in the film

Maurine Young grew up in Chicago in a Catholic home. With four young sons, a rocky marriage, and no active faith, she was drawn to a small Christian church near her suburban Chicago home. Just before Andrew was murdered in 1996, she and Steve were close to divorce. They’ve found that the trauma to their family gave them renewed strength to restore their marriage. Today she works for her community’s park district. She has maintained contact with Mario Ramos, writing to him often and visiting him occasionally.

Steve Young was a piano tuner and speed skater when Andrew was killed. Andrew shared his father’s love of the sport and Steve had had high hopes for national success for his son. As a result of the murder, Steve became active in the gun control movement and became a prominent activist in Chicago and nationally. He was midwest director of the Bell Campaign, an organization of families of victims of gun violence, and then became a leader of the Million Mom March organization. As those groups lost funding, he returned to his work with pianos, and is writing a book about his family’s journey since Andrew’s death. While Steve came to support Maurine’s decision to forgive Mario, he was not interested in developing a personal relationship with him until after the documentary was made. Since that time, Steve has visited Mario in prison.

Manuel and Maria Ramos immigrated to Evanston, Illinois where they joined a large community of Mexican immigrants from their home state. Manuel is a factory worker and Maria a homemaker. Since their son entered prison, they have moved away from the community where they felt such shame, but have continued to be part of the St. Nicholas parish.

Mario Ramos graduated from Evanston Township High School the day before murdering Andrew Young. His involvement with the Latin Kings street gang was relatively recent. In fact, it seems that part of what lead to the murder was a more senior gang member goading Mario on as part of an initiation. Before the crime, Mario had attending mass regularly with his family, and had been an alter server when he was young. After his arrest, and with the encouragement of Maurine Young, Mario’s faith has moved away from Catholicism to a more fundamental Christianity. In prison, he has become of a leader of prayer and study groups, while continuing an active correspondence with Father Oldershaw and Maurine Young.

Father Robert Oldershaw grew up in Evanston, Illinois, but worked elsewhere in the Chicago Archdiocese for many years before being assigned to Evanston’s St. Nicholas Church. Soon after his arrival, the St. Nicholas parish merged with a nearby Latino parish. Both before and after the murder, he has worked to build bridges between the two communities as he has tried to reconcile the two families. Father Oldershaw has also been active in ecumenical efforts in Evanston’s faith community.

About the Producer

Jay Shefsky’s documentaries have addressed such subjects as dying, racism, and violent crime – difficult issues for anyone to face. But Shefsky’s films offer a surprising sense of hope by telling stories of people facing these issues with dignity and strength. This thoughtful approach has earned him much acclaim, both in his Chicago viewing area and nationally.

After its local broadcast, A Justice That Heals was shown on ABC’s Nightline with Ted Koppel. His previous documentary, To Live Until I Die, was broadcast nationally on PBS. It addresses the state of end-of-life care in America through the personal stories of six terminally ill people. Shefsky decided to examine this subject after the death of his own father-in-law, whose story is incorporated into the film.

His 2003 documentary, Angels Too Soon, tells of a Chicago community grappling with the effects of a tragic fire. In 1958, fire swept through the Our Lady of Angels catholic school, killing 92 students and three nuns. The blaze shocked the nation, tore apart a community, left a mystery unsolved to this day, sowed popular suspicion of the church and city fathers, and prompted nationwide fire safety reform. Angels Too Soon tells the story through the eyewitness accounts of students, teachers, parents, journalists, and firemen.

When making a documentary, Shefsky is drawn to people who show courage during trying times. “I’m most interested in stories about the human spirit prevailing," he says. "Some people say I focus on depressing topics, but I never feel that while I am making them. My documentaries are about people who have found positive ways to deal with difficult situations.”

Credits

Funding Credit: The Chicago Community Trust

Producer/Director/Narrator: Jay Shefsky

Associate Producer: Dan Protess

Written by: Margaret Newman, Jay Shefsky, Dan Protess

Camera: Emmett Wilson

Music composed and performed by: MASS Ensemble

Executive Producer: Leonard Aronson

A Production of WTTW Chicago, Copyright 2000

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