V.I. Superior Court Judge James Carroll stressed the importance of forgiveness in the healing process as he addressed the Rotary Club of St. Thomas Sunrise on Tuesday. Carroll is one of a series of speakers the club has invited to speak in its Practice Peace Initiative.

"Forgiveness is the necessary step," Carroll said. He knows firsthand whereof he speaks.

Carroll spoke from both personal and professional perspectives. Aside from his years of experience on the judicial bench, he and his wife experienced a crippling loss when their son, Jason, was shot and killed 13 years ago on an afternoon on a downtown street in Charlotte Amalie. Jason Carroll was 18 years old.

However, the judge and his wife, Celia, took measures to heal that wound and to help others suffering from the aftermath of gun violence. The Carrolls started the local chapter of Mothers Against Guns Inc. and the Jason Carroll Memorial Fund, which awards a full one-year scholarship at the University of the Virgin Islands.

The Mothers Against Guns Walk/Run has become a well-attended event close to the heart of the community – it celebrated its 10th anniversary earlier this year with camaraderie and empathy as the participants gathering in Emancipation Garden after the race to share their experiences.

James Carroll is also the driving force behind the V.I. Fathers March and Rally, which is in its fifth year. The march draws fathers to accompany their sons on their first day of school, "a very important event in a young boy’s life," Carroll said, "to walk into school on the arm of his father."
"Violence is not the correct response to violence," Carroll told Rotarians, but this is a situation he encounters almost daily in his courtroom. "The spirit of death and violence has overcome our society," Carroll said, "to enact revenge."

He said there are two common situations he sees in young men who appear in his courtroom – they haven’t received a high school education and they come from broken homes. These circumstances, Carroll said, are a recipe for problems later in life.

"To do nothing about our violence is unacceptable," he said. "The community has to work together to combat the problem.”

Carroll spoke of a current problem with jury selection, which has become infected with fear. "Jury duty is an obligation as a citizen," he said. "That is one of the ways we contribute to our society, but more and more I see potential jurors afraid to serve because they may know the person or the family involved, because of retribution. There is now a fear of retribution." He said this never used to be the case.

Carroll’s remarks paralleled those of St. Thomas/St. John Fire Chief Andre Smith, who addressed Rotary Sunrise earlier this month. Smith said it used to be that hardly anyone knew someone who had been killed or injured in a violent situation. His said when his wife, an elementary school teacher, recently asked that question in her classroom, almost all the kids raised their hands.

But Carroll said countering violence in our community can start with small things like volunteering for jury duty, rather than letting fear get the upper hand.

Carroll, now retired from the bench, spoke of the young men he has encountered with a heavy heart.

Peace and conflict resolution is one of Rotary International’s six areas of focus and will be the core focus for Rotary Sunrise during its 2013-14 Rotary year.