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Essential values of restorative justice
from the blog Minds on Fire:
The purpose of restorative processes is:
- to empower victims by providing them a strong voice
- to demonstrate to offenders the harm they cause by their actions
- to provide a safe forum where the consequences of crime and remorse for criminal acts can encounter each other.
Feb 12, 2010 Definition, Design, Theory, Values
Parole and Probation Office tutors stakeholders on restorative justice in the Philippines
from the press release:
Several clusters composed of about three hundred fifty (350) Barangay Chairmen, Barangay Human Rights Action Officers, Police Officers and Volunteer Probation Aides (VPAs) in Tacloban City, are set to attend a two-day seminar of restorative justice starting February 8 until March 3, in two venues in the City.
....[T]he main objective of the project is to educate the participants on the concept of Restorative Justice in order for them to resolve minor conflicts in the community using the RJ models.
Feb 12, 2010 Country:Philippines
'Pizza thief' walks the line
From the Los Angeles Times article by Jack Leonard:
If he ever returns to prison, Jerry Dewayne Williams knows he'll probably never get out.
To stay clear of trouble, he has left behind the Compton neighborhood where police knew him and cut ties with friends from wilder days. Once a hard partyer, the 43-year-old says he prefers the company of a mystery novel or a "Law and Order" episode on television.
Williams is one of more than 14,000 felons who, under California's three-strikes law, face a possible life sentence if they commit another felony. But few, if any, grasp the reality of that threat better than Williams.
Feb 12, 2010 Retribution, Theory, Support, Policy, Politics
Ministering to sex offenders
interview by Saul Gonzales for PBS' Religion and Ethics:
GONZALEZ: First started by Canadian churches in the mid 1990s, COSA’s work with sex offenders centers on small discussion circles that meet weekly. In the circles, four to six volunteers from the community are matched with one sex offender, called a core member. In this circle the offender is named John.
JOHN: And I screwed up and I made some bad choices because I become careless and I become complacent, and that is something that anybody that’s in my situation cannot do.
GONZALEZ: The circles are intended to get recently paroled sex offenders to take responsibility for the crimes they’ve committed and provide them material and moral support as they attempt to reenter the community.
JOHN: I can talk about anything, anything.
GONZALEZ: Anything.
JOHN: Anything. I told them things about me that I wouldn’t tell my closest friend.
Feb 11, 2010 Case:Sexual, Region: North America and Caribbean, Prison, Policy, Transformation, Country:USA
Bullying: School, texting & cyber harassment is emotional assault
from Michelle Renee's entry on The Huffington Post:
Bullying has become increasingly common in schools throughout the United States and studies have found signs of an apparent connection between bullying, being bullied and suicide. When the bullying moves to the Internet, the trauma to the victim is astronomically escalated. It is full-blown emotional assault.
This issue hit home when my daughter was in 7th grade. Although she survived the intense school and cyber bullying she endured for several weeks at the hands of those that used to be her "friends", the wounds were deep and the signs were there. When she began wearing dark clothes all the time and her grades started slipping, her mood becoming dark and sad without any apparent reason - at least not due to anything at home - I knew something was up.
The world is not as it should be: Punitiveness as a response to societal change
by Kim Workman of Rethinking Crime and Punishment:
....As a policy, three strikes does a lot more than provide harsher punishment. It also takes discretionary authority away from the judiciary, who traditionally have had the flexibility to vary sentences in response to judgements about the nature of crime, the victim and the offender. In the United States, studies showed a long-term trend toward increasing skepticism and lack of confidence in the legal authorities. This in turn had led to:
- A tendency to ignore judicial orders and the law;
- Greater tolerance of vigilantism or extralegal behaviour of citizens;
- Jury behaviour which nullifies the law.
Feb 10, 2010 Retribution, Theory, Support, Policy, Politics
Conservative criminal justice policy and restorative justice
....[I]f we win the election, we will be missing a great opportunity if we do not seize the moment to move Restorative Justice to a much higher place on the agenda of criminal justice reform.
It‟s very simple: if I become the Prisons Minister, I will be a strong advocate and supporter of RJ.
Feb 10, 2010 Policy, Politics, Support, Country:England&Wales, Region: Europe
Babysitter jailed for killing toddler is freed after retrial
from Helen Pidd's article in the Guardian:
A babysitter who served three years in prison for killing a toddler was cleared of murder yesterday after a retrial. Suzanne Holdsworth, 38, of Leeds, wept as she was acquitted of murder and manslaughter by a jury at Teesside crown court after a long campaign to clear her name.
She was jailed for life in March 2005 after being found guilty of murdering two-year-old Kyle Fisher, who died from severe brain damage while in her care in 2004. But the court of appeal overturned her conviction this year after an investigation by the BBC's Newsnight raised doubts about medical evidence at the first trial.
Inside Chowchilla Women's Prison: Locked up, reaching out
from Norma Yuriar's story for KMPH TV:
Behind the locked doors of the Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla there's a waiting list to join a unique group. It's called the Long Termers Organization (LTO). Prisoners must be discipline free for year before they are accepted.
"We do have remorse for what we have done, we are taking responsibility and we are doing our best to give back what we have taken away," Inmate Charlann Geronimo said.
"It means a lot to the victim. It's the beginning of the healing process when the offender takes accountability for their actions and offers some type of remorse," Tina Figueroa with Madera County Victim Services said.
Feb 09, 2010 Restitution, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:USA, Prison
Another warning about US prison policy: Justice Kennedy laments the state of prisons in California, U.S.
from Carol J. Williams' story in the LA Times:
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy criticized California sentencing policies and crowded prisons Wednesday night, calling the influence that unionized prison guards had in passing the three-strikes law "sick."
In an otherwise courtly and humorous address to the Los Angeles legal community, Kennedy expressed obvious dismay over the state of corrections and rehabilitation in the country. He said U.S. sentences are eight times longer than those issued by European courts.
