Restorative Justice Online Blog -- RJOB

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Filter: Showing 3 posts filed under: Correspondent:Lisa Rea [–] published between Jan 01, 2010 and Jan 31, 2010 [Show all]

Violent juvenile offenders: Adult time for adult crime?

The topic of what to do with juvenile offenders keeps coming up in the U.S., and elsewhere, in part because we have no consistent response to juvenile crime. The issue of juvenile crime is hot, too, because there are few answers. It is good to see that according to this CNN piece that in the U.S. states are apparently "rethinking adult time for adult crimes" committed by juvenile since sending juveniles to adult prisons just flat out doesn't work. Say what you want about crimes rates declining in some areas or in some states, there is limited evidence that the decline in juvenile crime is due to policies that put juveniles together with adult criminals, many of them hardened offenders.

Jan 27, 2010 Juvenile, Correspondent:Lisa Rea

Mark McGuire's Apology: Baseball and Restorative Justice

by Lisa Rea

When's an apology not an apology? Does this question only apply to policies related to restorative justice and crime? I don't think so.

Mark McGuire's recent public apology for taking steroids during his career as a major league baseball player got me to thinking.

Linked here is a column by a MSNBC sports writer.

Though I'm no baseball expert I am a fan. I thought there was a lot of truth in this sportswriter's column. Can you apologise a little and cover your bases, so to speak? Why do we apologize ? Is the timing of one's apology important? Can a real apology help an offender "come clean"?

Jan 15, 2010 Locker Room, Apology, Correspondent:Lisa Rea

U.S. Sentencing Commission and restorative justice

by Lisa Rea

The U.S. Sentencing Commission has now created a victim advisory group which will include restorative justice expert Howard Zehr and Illinois crime victim Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins.

The United States Sentencing Commission, an independent agency in the judicial branch of the federal government, was organized in 1985 to develop a national sentencing policy for the federal courts. The resulting sentencing guidelines structure the courts’ sentencing discretion to help ensure that similar offenders who commit similar offenses receive similar sentences.

Hopefully the Commission will seriously consider the importance of restorative justice as a means to systemic reform.

For comments from Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins regarding her appointment see her statement below. Jennifer is a former board member of The Justice & Reconciliation Project (JRP) which advocated for victims-driven restorative justice nationally. Bishop-Jenkins has been active in national efforts to abolish the death penalty in the U.S.

Jan 13, 2010 Region: North America and Caribbean, Correspondent:Lisa Rea, Victim, Policy, Politics, Country:USA

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