JOHN A. TARANTINO, a senior counsel at Providence-based law firm Adler Pollock & Sheehan PC and a managing trustee at the Papitto Opportunity Connection, recently received the Edward V. Healey Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award from Justice Assistance. The award honors those individuals who have demonstrated a lifetime of committed service and citizen contribution to the justice profession and public interest.
What does receiving this award mean to you? It’s humbling enough to be recognized for your work in general, but to receive awards like the Edward V. Healey Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award this year – on top of being a previous recipient of the Neil J. Houston Jr. Memorial Award – is one of the greatest honors I have received. … I was at Justice Assistance at the outset as a young worker and to receive awards decades later named after two great and inspirational leaders are honors that I will always cherish.
You are a founding board member for Justice Assistance. How much of a difference has been made over the years in helping justice-involved individuals and victims get back on their feet in Rhode Island? I started at Justice Assistance when it first began in 1978 working at the [R.I.] Boys Training School. Jon Houston gave me a chance and a job when I needed both. … We worked with [youths] at the training school as part of what was then a new program. From there, Justice Assistance continued to maintain a track record of leading tremendous work not only there but with many justice-involved persons, giving them a chance at redemption and a better life, and ensuring that victims have an advocate and support system available to them.
What organization-led initiative are you most proud of in your time with Justice Assistance? I’m most proud of the CORES program and the Habitat for Justice. Those are personal for me because I specifically had a hand in helping them become a reality through my work as managing trustee of the Papitto Opportunity Connection, which funds these amazing programs. These programs will take Justice Assistance to another level of service, and not only statewide recognition but national recognition.
What challenges remain in helping justice-involved individuals in the state and how does Justice Assistance plan to respond to those challenges? There’s a saying that justice isn’t served unless it’s served to all. I couldn’t agree more. We need to remember that people make mistakes and sometimes they are big ones that have serious consequences. There needs to be accountability. But we need to give people a chance to come back, improve themselves, seek forgiveness and make amends. Otherwise, we will perpetuate a continuous cycle of negativity, recidivism and hopelessness. Justice Assistance is there now for all justice-involved persons and will continue to be there in the future for them to make sure that everything possible can be done to help break that cycle. That’s serving justice to all.
