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Restorative justice is the heart of nonviolent change
from the entry by Ken Butigan on ZNet:
We’re so trained in the art and science of retribution that it’s sometimes hard to get a fix on what restorative justice is. I got a clue several years ago when my colleague Cynthia Stateman shared the following story. Cynthia was very close to her Uncle John. He was a doctor in their hometown, and when she was growing up she would often make the rounds with him visiting the sick. He was the town’s first African-American physician, and had built a clinic that served sharecroppers and mill workers. One night, years later, Cynthia got a call from a cousin telling her that her uncle had been killed by a young white man intent on robbing his clinic. The assailant had shoved her 75-year-old uncle against a wall. He fell, gasped for breath — and then suddenly died. The would-be robber phoned 911 but then ran for it, only to be quickly captured. Cynthia immediately flew home to be with her family.
Mar 08, 2013 Story, Region: North America and Caribbean, Policy, Case:Homicide, Country:USA
School's disciplinary message: We want you here
from Anne Stuhldreher's article in the San Francisco Chronicle:
The head of security at Richmond High School is Darryl Robinson. But everyone there knows him as "Coach D." When he started 15 years ago, fights broke out nonstop. Students roamed the halls. And things didn't improve much over the years.
Robinson remembers standing in front of a classroom and asking how many students had ever seen someone get killed.
"Every hand in the room shot up," he said.
Jul 23, 2012 Story, School, Region: North America and Caribbean, Policy, Country:USA
Power of One: Restorative justice couples victims with offenders
from the article on CTV.ca:
....A woman named Marité has been taking part in the process, not by facing her sexually-abusive father, but rather, another man who committed similar acts.
She said that results have helped her cope with the damage she suffered.
"For him it was like I was his daughter," said Marité. "And I was able also to express my anger to him and that's what he wanted rather than silence from his daughter."
"I can now go forward because I'm not bound to my father anymore. I can leave him go."
Jun 26, 2012 Story, Case:Burglary, Victim, Mediation, Policy, Other, Region: North America and Caribbean, Case:Sexual, Country:Canada
Crime and entertainment at Franklin High
from the article by Rick Holmes in MetroWest Daily News:
When outrage-inducing incidents become media sensations, the authorities respond with the tools they have available. Educators point to politically popular “zero tolerance” policies.
....Police charge the thugs with whatever laws they can find — even unlawful wire tapping — and set the wheels of justice turning. There will be lawyers and hearings and plea bargains, fines and probably time behind bars.
May 23, 2012 School, Story, Region: North America and Caribbean, Policy, Politics, Country:USA
Restorative justice in higher education: A compilation of formats and best practices
from the guide by Justine Darling:
....There are many restorative tools and processes that can be used in the university setting. This guide is specific to Judicial and Residential Life processes within Institutions of Higher Education. Addressed below are the five most common methods of implementation that are used at the 9 colleges and universities in this study. The goal of all 5 Restorative Processes is for the respondent to acknowledge responsibility, identify harm and obligations, and develop a restorative plan agreed upon by the person responsible and impacted parties. Language used in Restorative Judicial Processes is different than the language used in Traditional Judicial Processes so that stigmatization is less likely to occur.
Apr 30, 2012 Story, Manual, School, Region: North America and Caribbean, Policy, Country:USA
Mass incarceration
from the transcript on Religion & Ethics:
POTTER: More than two million Americans are now imprisoned, four times as many as 30 years ago. The major reason: mandatory sentencing for non-violent crimes and drug charges. But the war on drugs, declared in the 1980s, has not had the effect its backers predicted. Arkansas Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen has seen the results.
JUDGE WENDELL GRIFFEN (Arkansas Circuit Court): Drug use has not declined. All it has done has produced an explosion on our prison population. The whole mandatory sentencing guideline mantra was sort of like the Kool-Aid that we should never have drunk.
Jan 18, 2012 Retribution, Story, Theory, Region: North America and Caribbean, Policy, Politics, Country:USA
Fearmonger and Through The Glass: Books that undermine Harper's omnibus crime bill
from the review by Matthew Behrens in rabble.ca:
It's a rare event in the Canadian publishing world when non-fiction books line up in sync with current events, but these two titles are perfectly timed as Canadians consider the serious consequences of the Harper government's dramatic omnibus crime bill, one that will radically alter an already deteriorating judicial system.
....Those who'd like an inkling of what could come down the pipe can do no better than read Paula Mallea's appropriately named Fearmonger, an outstanding overview of recently passed and proposed crime legislation.
Dec 28, 2011 Story, Support, Policy, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:Canada, Politics
Prison Reform Trust poll finding: 88% support restorative justice after the riots
In 1998 the British Crime Survey found that 41% of victims said they would agree to meet the offender, if this was offered to them, and 58% would accept reparation from the offender. In September this year, following the riots that took place across England in August 2011, an ICM poll, commissioned by the Prison Reform Trust found that 88% of the public thought victims of crime should have the right to tell offenders the impact of their crime; 94% believe offenders should make amends by doing unpaid work in the community; and 71% believe the victim should have a say in how the offender should make amends for the harm they have caused.
Oct 17, 2011 Story, Country:England&Wales, Support, Correspondent:Lizzie Nelson, Region: Europe, Policy, Politics
Letter: Restorative Justice Program a valuable resource
from the letter by Conor B. Stott in Oregon Daily Emerald:
Every day at this University I am constantly discovering new opportunities and programs available to us students. Last spring, after an unfortunate incident on campus caused by my friend and me, we had the opportunity to redeem our actions through the Restorative Justice Program at the University. At the time, I knew absolutely nothing about this program, and I am sure most students are currently unaware of what restorative justice is and how it works.
The Restorative Justice Program is a group effort between Conflict Resolution Services and the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards to resolve students’ infractions against the University in a manner that caters to the needs and wishes of both parties involved.
The promise of restorative justice: New approaches for criminal justice and beyond
Reviewed by Martin Wright
It is becoming increasingly clear that the principles of restorative justice can be used, as the editors say, outside the formal criminal justice system, and this book bears witness to that. Half is about criminal justice, and half about other applications in schools and elsewhere. The contributors reflect the book’s origins among a group at Fresno Pacific University in California, but other chapters come from Bulgaria, Canada, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.
Jan 28, 2011 School, Victim, Book Review, Reform, Practice, Story, System, Correspondent:Martin Wright, National Reconciliation, Prison, Policy, Workplaces, Other
