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Joy in the dirty work of restorative justice
from the entry by John Lash on Juvenile Justice Information Exchange:
....The tension between the study of a topic and the subsequent conversion of ideas into actual work exists in all endeavors, something I have been thinking about as I prepare a training weekend for people interested in learning about restorative justice.
There is a purity in theory, a beauty reminiscent of the idealism of Plato and Pythagoras, that is fun to engage. Working in this realm is a kind of game, fun, yet ultimately empty without the willingness to get out in the world and get dirty. In a training environment we seek to balance this tension in a way that honors both aspects of reality. We want to transmit the underlying principles while also showing how things “really” work.
May 22, 2013 Process, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:USA, Community
An inventory and examination of restorative justice practices for youth in Illinois
from the report prepared by Kimberly S. Burke for Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority:
....Key findings include:
- Respondents reporting using restorative justice practices were found in 54 Illinois counties, and in many different types of organizations who respond to youth misconduct, including police departments, probation and court services, schools, community-based organizations, and other state and municipal departments.
May 20, 2013 Practice, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:USA
Center for Restorative Justice braces for changes to marijuana law
from the article by Keith Whitcomb, Jr. for the Bennington Banner News:
With the state likely to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana this summer, the local nonprofit that handles court diversion cases is preparing for the changes....
Cipriano said decriminalization is not legalization, a distinction she fears may be lost on some young people as well as adults. Those caught with less than an ounce of marijuana who are 21 and over will face a civil fine, but for those between the ages of 16 and 20 the penalty is expected to be similar to an underage drinking offense.
May 15, 2013 Region: North America and Caribbean, Court, Case:Drug Crimes, Country:USA
Fresno Unified approves restorative justice program
from the article by Linda Mumma for ABC30:
After three years of working with the district -- members of the youth advocacy group "Students United to Create A Climate of Engagement, Support and Safety" -- got the outcome they were looking for.
Fresno Unified School Board Member Carol Mills said, "This board hereby adopts this resolution to create and implement a school discipline framework of restorative practices."
May 14, 2013 Policy, School, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:USA
An Outcome Evaluation of Minnesota Circles of Support and Accountability (MnCoSA)
from the study by the Minnesota Department of Corrections:
....The use of the COSA model with high-risk sex offenders began in a small Mennonite community in Canada in the early 1990s. Grounded in the tenets of the restorative justice philosophy, the COSA model attempts to help sex offenders successfully reenter http://www.doc.state.mn.us/publications/documents/9-12MnCOSAResearchinBrief.pdfthe community and, thus, increase public safety, by providing them with social support as they try to meet their employment, housing, treatment, and other social needs. Each COSA consists of anywhere between four and six community volunteers, one of whom is a primary volunteer, who meet with the offender on a regular basis. The results from several evaluations of the Canadian COSA model suggest it significantly reduces sex offender recidivism....
May 10, 2013 Case:Abuse, Offender, Reentry, Practice, Community, Region: North America and Caribbean, Case:Sexual, Policy, Circle, Country:USA
Judge's experience: Restorative justice works
from the article by David Gottlieb in the Fresno Bee:
....I would not write this commentary or support restorative justice if I did not see the results firsthand. I have written amazing anecdotal stories about the transformation of some of our youth and the communities, but that is not as relevant as the evidence supporting the success of the program.
Foremost among the statistics drawn from two years of studies of the program is that recidivism for youth that successfully completed the program is 5%. So, of about 300 teens that have gone through the program, 15 went on in subsequent years to either reoffend or violate the terms of their probation.
May 02, 2013 Judge, Court, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:USA
Defusing conflict in schools
from the photo essay by Jim Wilson in the New York Times:
Mr. Butler passed a “talking stone” to a student during a circle, indicating that the student had the floor.
May 01, 2013 Policy, School, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:USA
Restorative justice: Re-storying what happened in Boston
from the entry by Pierre R. Berastain on Huffingtonpost.com:
....We have seen some coverage of restorative practices as an alternative model to responding to conflict, particularly in the criminal justice system and with students who misbehave. In essence, the restorative process invites us to sit in circle, and, as a community affected by crime, determine how to best meet the needs of those involved. Restorative justice rejects one-size-fits-all models and prefers creative processes to conflict resolution.
Apr 30, 2013 Victim, Support, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:USA
Detroit students restore peace by talking it out
from the article by Charles Honey for Christianity Today:
It all started with Twitter.
Weekend tweets and re-tweets among two girls and their friends. She says she wants to fight her, he tweets it to others, word goes around. Come Monday, the threatened girl stays home from school.
By Wednesday, four of them sit around a cafeteria table in a charter academy in Detroit, facing each other. Talking, not fighting is the way things are worked out here.
Apr 29, 2013 Policy, School, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:USA
For restorative justice, the devil is in the details
from the column by J. Douglas Allen-Taylor in Oakland Local:
....The ordinance makes provision for existing agencies or non-profits to run the restorative justice component on a case-by-case referral basis, with instructions that the contracted program “may seek to involve the victim as well as the offender” in the restorative justice process. In addition the contracted program both makes the decision as to what will it take to bring restoration as well as to ultimately sign off on whether or not restoration was done.
Since that is one of the basic tenets or restorative justice—to bring victim and offender together to restore the whole—it would seem that the programs would almost always bring in the victims, as well as let the victims take the lead in deciding the restorative action.
Apr 26, 2013 Human Rights, Region: North America and Caribbean, System, Victim, Country:USA
