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Standing Committee
from Wilma Derksen's entry on Bittersweet:
I am meeting with the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights this morning.
This is what I will be saying.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to have this opportunity to address you and the rest of the committee regarding Bill C-10, The Safe Streets & Community Act.
....My daughter, Candace, was 13 years old when she was abducted and found murdered six weeks later. We lived without knowing the details of what happened for two decades.
Nov 23, 2011 Victim, Offender, Reentry, System, Policy, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:Canada, Politics, Support
Where are the personal apologies for the Freedom Riders?
from Kung Li's entry on Facing South:
There has been only a single personal apology for the events that happened 50 years ago. Elwin Wilson, a former member of the KKK, drew the first blood of the Freedom Ride when he attacked John Lewis as he stepped into the bus station in Rock Hill, S.C. He traveled to Washington, D.C. in 2009 to find John Lewis -- now Congressman Lewis -- and to tell him he was sorry.
Congressman Lewis described the meeting to Oprah like this: "He said, 'I attacked you, and I'm sorry. I want to apologize. Will you accept my apology?' And I said, 'Yes.' And he gave me a hug, and he started crying. I hugged him back, and I shed some tears also."
"He's the first and only person who has ever apologized to me."
Sep 08, 2011 Region: North America and Caribbean, Apology, Offender, Victim, Forgiveness, Country:USA
Murderers turned peacemakers
from the article by Laurel Kaufer on Peace X Peace:
How is it that women, with dark pasts, serving time for murder and manslaughter, could possibly become honored peacemakers?
Their story is one of personal commitment to themselves and the community in which most are destined to live out their lives. “This is an environment filled with conflict and violence. There is a dire need and want for change,” says Susan Russo, one of the fifteen initial peacemakers, serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole at the largest prison for women in the world, Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla, CA. “Mediation interests all of us because we are lifers and long-termers hoping to make a difference in teaching our peers that there is a better way.”
Beginning her quest in 2007, Sue Russo wrote over 50 handwritten letters from prison to mediators all over California. Her letters went unanswered until August of 2009 when one of her letters made it to me, Laurel Kaufer, Esq., a Southern California mediator and peacemaker and founder of the post-Katrina Mississippi Mediation Project.
Sep 06, 2011 Dialogue, Victim, Offender, Region: North America and Caribbean, Prison, Case:Homicide, Transformation, Country:USA
2nd Chance Staffing
from the organization's website:
To ex-offenders: We employ motivated men and women that have made concrete changes in their lives. A change to us means having become a law-abiding member of the community who understands there is no replacement for hard work and dedication. If you fit this bill, we are looking for you. We care about your skills, your mindset, and your future -- not your past.
To businesses: At 2nd Chance, we provide top-quality employees for companies of all sizes. Because we have consistently provided loyal, hardworking employees for Fortune 500 companies across the country, we have seen first-hand how well our business model works. Whether you are searching for long-term employees or temp-to-hire positions, 2nd Chance can help!
Aug 05, 2011 Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:USA, Community, Offender
Colorado mother wishes for meeting with son's killers
from Ivan Moreno's article in the San Francisco Chronicle:
The 3-year-old boy affectionately known as "Biscuit" was sleeping in the back of a parked old Cadillac when the shooting began.
Fourteen bullets hit the car in the drive-by shooting outside a northeast Denver duplex. Biscuit was shot in the head and died. His brother, Calvin, four days shy of his 7th birthday, and a teenage cousin were unhurt.
Sharletta Evans — mother of Biscuit, or Casson Xavier Evans — came to forgive the gunmen, who were 15 and 16 years old at the time of the Dec. 21, 1995, shooting. But it took years for her to decide she wanted to meet them in prison, hoping for closure.
A new Colorado law encourages the state Department of Corrections to facilitate such reconciliation meetings. Yet it's a process that requires they be safe and don't backfire on victims. And prison officials say there's simply no money to make it happen in the near future.
Jul 21, 2011 Dialogue, Victim, Offender, Region: North America and Caribbean, Prison, Case:Homicide, Country:USA
Restoring lives: Now that’s Justice
from Patrice Gaines' article in Yes!:
It was the summer of 2009. I was on my second day of work for the U.S. Census Bureau, knocking on doors in rural South Carolina.
My cell phone rang. It was my supervisor.
“Patrice, headquarters called me and told me to send you home immediately and to take back all government property,” she said. “I don’t know why.”
Jun 15, 2011 Offender, Reentry, Practice, Indigenous, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:USA
Dialogues can offer healing for crime victims
from Ryan Marshall's article in the Carroll County Times:
Recovering from a crime can be a deeply personal process for victims, but Maryland's corrections system offers victims who are interested a chance to interact with their attackers.
The state is able to arrange dialogues between victims and the person incarcerated for their crime.
May 23, 2011 Dialogue, Region: North America and Caribbean, Offender, Victim, Prison, Country:USA
Seeking ‘peace on this earth’: Detailing the need for Alabama to offer a formal state apology
from Ben Greenberg's article in The Anniston Star:
Two local governments in southeast Alabama are expected to issue an apology for a 1944 rape of [Recy Taylor] a black woman by several white men, none of whom were ever prosecuted.
....Asked if the apology would also be on behalf of the state, Grimsley said, “We haven’t addressed that level yet.”
....“Clearly there should be an apology from the state here as well as the county,” said Professor Margaret Burnham, director of the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Program at Northeastern University School of Law. “Each failed to pursue the investigation aggressively and promptly, and more generally afforded utter impunity to white men who raped black women. Such a statement would not only honor Recy Taylor and her family for their courage and tenacity in seeking justice, but it would speak to scores of victims who similarly suffered in silence.”
Mar 29, 2011 Apology, Offender, Case:Hate Crime, Region: North America and Caribbean, Case:Sexual, Country:USA
Huikahi Restorative Circles: Group process for self-directed reentry planning and family healing
from Lorenn Walker's article in European Journal of Probation:
....The Huikahi Circle is a facilitated reentry planning group process for individual incarcerated people, their invited supporters, and at least one prison representative.
The incarcerated person determines what they want and the group helps her determine how best to achieve her goals. It can result in better outcomes for people leaving prison or drug treatment programs than case planning and case management where professionals make decisions for others.
Oct 14, 2010 Offender, Reentry, Community, Region: North America and Caribbean, Report, Evaluation, Country:USA
Huikahi Restorative Circles: A public health approach for reentry planning
from the article by Lorenn Walker and Rebecca Greening in Federal Probation:
....The Huikahi Restorative Circle is a group process for reentry planning that involves the incarcerated individual, his or her family and friends, and at least one prison representative. The process was developed in 2005 in collaboration with two community-based organizations—the Hawai’i Friends of Civic &Law Related Education and the Community Alliance on Prisons—and the Waiawa Correctional Facility located on the island of O’ahu.
Jul 27, 2010 Offender, Reentry, Practice, Community, Region: North America and Caribbean, Circle, Country:USA
