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Global Peace Index ranks New Zealand as the world's most peaceful country, Iraq as least peaceful
By Dan Van Ness
The Global Peace Index is an annual publication from the Institute for Economics and Peace. It ranks countries based on 23 indicators that are divided into three broad categories: (1) measures of ongoing domestic and international conflict, (2) measures of safety and security in society, and (3) measure of militarization.
Jul 13, 2009 Region:Europe, Region: Pacific, Region: Europe, Correspondent:Dan Van Ness, Region: North America and Caribbean, Region:Middle East, Region: Asia, Region: Africa, Region: Latin America
How should we treat apologies in criminal law?
by Dan Van Ness
Should it make a difference if a criminal defendant apologizes in court? That question raises many others.
1. A difference to whom: the judge, the victim, the defendant?
2, How do we gauge the sincerity of the apology ("I was wrong" vs."I'm sorry I was caught").
3. Was the apology ordered by the judge or was it voluntary?
4. Does the victim need to accept the apology and extend forgiveness in order for it to be considered in sentencing?
5. If the apology is made before or at sentencing, should it be for what the offender did to the victim or for what he or she did to the government and society as a whole? Or both?
Jul 13, 2009 Correspondent:Dan Van Ness, Apology, Offender
A comment on Do Better Do Less: The report of the Commission on English Prisons Today
by Martin Wright
The Commission on English Prisons Today is an independent commission set up in 2007 by the Howard League for Penal Reform. Its 77-page report details the growth in prison population in the UK, accompanied by a rise in the reconviction rate, and aggravated by 49 ‘law-and-order’ laws between 1980 and 2009. By contrast England in 1908-39, and Finland in 1960-2000, have shown that imprisonment can be deliberately reduced with no effect on the crime rate. Scotland is planning to do likewise.
Jul 10, 2009 Region:Europe, Country:England&Wales, Support, Correspondent:Martin Wright, Policy, Politics
We live in a relational and moral universe
by Dan Van Ness
At the 2nd National Conference on Restorative Justice in San Antonio, Jennifer Llewellyn spoke of the importance of relationships. “We live in a relational universe,” she said. This is why restorative justice is so powerful – it addresses something real, something that is part of the fabric of life itself. Relationships are core to who we are.
Jul 10, 2009 Retribution, Definition, Theory, Correspondent:Dan Van Ness, Distinguishing, Conceptual
New Video: An Introduction to Restorative Practices at Endeavour High School.
From the International Institute of Restorative Practices E-Forum:
This 13-minute video shows how Endeavour High School, once a failing school in Hull, England, the third most impoverished ward in the United Kingdom, has undergone enormous changes since implementing restorative practices.
Jul 10, 2009 RJ City
Wall Street Financier Bernard Madoff sentenced to 150 years in prison: restorative justice would think of the victims first
by Lisa Rea
I am often asked to give an example of how restorative justice would work in the real world. The Bernard Madoff ponzi scheme, one of the largest corporate fraud schemes in U.S. history, is a great case in point. Bernard Madoff was sentenced on June 29 to 150 years in prison leaving thousands of victims behind.
What will become of them? If restorative justice were applied to Madoff case what would it look like? Complicated? Absolutely. But that should never prohibit the application of restorative justice to any crime.
Jul 09, 2009 Case:White Collar, Other, Correspondent:Lisa Rea
Civilizing offenders requires community relationships
From Julia Steiny's column at projo.com.
This is the last of four columns in a series about the nation’s oldest and most mature restorative juvenile justice system.
Jul 09, 2009 Media, Story, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:USA
Is there justice in restorative?
From Howard Zehr's blog: Catherine Bargen, a long-time practitioner and visionary thinker, raised an important issue that deserves more discussion. The rest of this entry is in her words, recorded and edited with her permission.
When I learned about restorative justice I felt that it applied to all of life and shouldn’t just be about criminal justice. I’ve made a career of thinking outside the criminal justice box - for example, restorative justice in schools - and I continue to think the work being done in this field is very important.
Jul 09, 2009 Limitations, Definition, Theory
What is a justice circle and why should I be interested?
From Ms. W's Summer Reading Blog:
A Justice Circle is a one time gathering of all people affected by a particular incident of youth crime. The goal of a Circle is to allow people who have been directly involved in an incident to decide together what the outcome should be. Based in the philosophy of Restorative Justice, the focus is on offender accountability, problem solving and creating an equal voice for victim and offender.
Restorative justice process helps prisoners, victims
From Phil Haslanger's article in the Capital Times: Each of the 18 grads spoke a bit as they came forward to accept their diplomas from Sue Heneman, a Madison volunteer who was one of the teachers in the program along with Diana Shaw. What was striking was how many of them talked about becoming aware for the first time of the consequences their actions had on their victims, on the community. These men were here for big-time crimes - murder, sexual assault, running prostitution rings.
