Can Forgiveness Play a Role in Criminal Justice

It is sad to think about how prevalent crime is in our society today.  The idea of "Restorative Justice" is a better way, in my opinion for the offender to make amends to those s/he has harmed.  In the case of the article we read, "Forgiven" by Paul Tullis, murder is the crime in question.  With the instance of murder, I do not feel that "restorative justice" is the best solution.  The criminal physically removed a life from the earth.  I do not think it is realistic because terrible people may take advantage of kind-hearted peopled who could easily forgive them.  Keeping criminals on the streets in this capacity is dangerous, especially since many would lie and state that they are "reformed" when they are, in fact, not.  It does keep closer to Catholic Social teaching because it puts faith in the accused and the accuser to reconcile and work together towards a common ground.