North America and Caribbean

Provides articles discussing restorative justice advancements in North America and the Caribbean. Articles appear in the order in which they were added to the site with the most recent appearing first.

• Canada |
• Jamaica |
• United States

The effects of prison visitation on recidivism

from the study released by the Minnesota Department of Corrections: Following recent studies in Florida and Canada, this study examines the effects of prison visitation on recidivism among 16,420 offenders released from Minnesota prisons between 2003 and 2007.

Martin Luther King and life after hate

from the entry by Evelyn Zellerer on Peace of the Circle: ....“The nonviolent approach does not immediately change the heart of the oppressor. It first does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them new self-respect; it calls up resources of strength and courage that they did not know they had. Finally it reaches the opponent and so stirs his conscience that reconciliation becomes a reality.” [Martin Luther King]

Editorial: Losing tolerance over zero-tolerance policies

from the Denver Post: Few events have shaped school discipline policies the way the 1999 Columbine High School massacre has — not just in Colorado but around the nation. Zero tolerance became a catchphrase for "doing-everything-possible-to-make-sure-this-never-happens-again."

Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission adopts a restorative justice approach to human rights disputes

from the article by Michael Darcy for Canadian Civil Libertise Association Rights Watch: The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission has changed its procedure for resolving human rights disputes. As of January 1, 2012, the NS HRC has adopted a restorative justice approach that emphasizes the need to reconcile the relationship between complainants and respondents,while reducing the time it takes to resolve a dispute (which the commission notes could have taken up to two years before the recent amendments).

Mass incarceration

from the transcript of Religion & Ethics: POTTER: More than two million Americans are now imprisoned, four times as many as 30 years ago. The major reason: mandatory sentencing for non-violent crimes and drug charges. But the war on drugs, declared in the 1980s, has not had the effect its backers predicted. Arkansas Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen has seen the results. JUDGE WENDELL GRIFFEN (Arkansas Circuit Court): Drug use has not declined. All it has done has produced an explosion on our prison population. The whole mandatory sentencing guideline mantra was sort of like the Kool-Aid that we should never have drunk.

Everychild gives $1 million to Juvenile Justice Center

from the article in Palisadian Post: Centinela Youth Services, Inc. has been named the recipient of the $1 million 2012 Everychild Foundation grant. The funds will launch and sustain a restorative justice center across the street from three Los Angeles juvenile courts over a three-year period. Specifically, the grant will be used to create and operate the center, including the funding of dedicated staff and partner agencies for services provided there. Everychild's grant will provide the remaining 60 percent of the $1.6-million total program cost.

Chicago Heights school helps launch anti-violence initiative

from the article by Jessica Villarreal in the Southtown Star: A number of characters were involved in a troubling incident at school. Their names fit their roles in the anger-sparked altercation: China Doll, Joe Swag, Bob Lame. But while the story that was acted out recently in a courtroom at the Daley Center in downtown Chicago was fictional, the program behind it is real and has a serious goal: reducing youth violence in the Chicago area.

Harper government misguided in its tough-on-crime approach

from the Globa and Mail editorial: David Daubney, a justice-department adviser, could have gone quietly into retirement. Instead, he tried to talk some sense back into this country. Prison overcrowding will worsen and breed violence, he told The Globe's Kirk Makin in an exit interview. The tough-on-crime route has been tried and failed. The government knows what it knows, doesn't listen to evidence and is reluctant to ask for research to be undertaken. “The policy is based on fear – fear of criminals and fear of people who are different. I do not think these harsh views are deeply held.” It's a good point. A new poll shows that 93 per cent of Canadians feel safe from crime. Why, then, spend billions of dollars to go backward?

Fearmonger and Through The Glass: Books that undermine Harper's omnibus crime bill

from the review by Matthew Behrens in rabble.ca: It's a rare event in the Canadian publishing world when non-fiction books line up in sync with current events, but these two titles are perfectly timed as Canadians consider the serious consequences of the Harper government's dramatic omnibus crime bill, one that will radically alter an already deteriorating judicial system. ....Those who'd like an inkling of what could come down the pipe can do no better than read Paula Mallea's appropriately named Fearmonger, an outstanding overview of recently passed and proposed crime legislation.

“Somebody could have died that day.”

from the article by Laura Mirsky in Restorative Practices Blog: “Somebody could have died that day.” That’s what a student said after a fight nearly erupted at a small Detroit high school last month. But a restorative circle squashed the tension and prevented a tragedy.

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.

Penn State's response to child sexual abuse: What about the victims?

by Lisa Rea As the story comes out in more detail about the alleged sexual abuse of children by Jerry Sandusky, former assistant football coach at Penn State, the coverage of the story seems to be more about the actions of veteran coach Joe Paterno--his resignation or the university's decision to fire him.

Givin' them kids all the power. What's next? No discipline, no obedience, no...fist fights.

from the blog entry by Savannah Iverson on Restorative Justice Colorado: What you're about to read in this blog article, is a little about how I have changed over the past year, after joining the Restorative Justice (RJ) student team. I joined the team the summer before freshman year.First though, let me give a brief description of the Longmont High School RJ Team. We are a team of roughly 20 student facilitators that practice Restorative Justice in 3 schools in the SVVSD. It’s a program run by student facilitators for students in conflict.

Missouri prisons grow 50 tons of food for pantries

from the article on stltoday.com: Missouri prisoners have raised more than 50 tons of vegetables and fruit that have been given to food pantries around the state. The Department of Corrections says this year's harvest was significantly higher than last year's, when the agency donated 29 tons of produce through its Restorative Justice Garden Program. Under the program, the seeds and plants are donated to the Corrections Department, which then donates all the resulting food to local pantries.

Can restorative justice help balance the scales for African-American youth?

from the article by Rebecca M. Stone in the Miami Herald: Darryl is a 12-year-old African American boy whose mother, Ariel, is a single parent. Ariel left high school after becoming pregnant with Darryl and has struggled to find anything but minimum wage jobs to support her family. One day when he was out with another friend, Darryl and his friend snuck into the neighbor's house and stole a video game. The neighbors called the police. One might conclude that the future does not bode well for Darryl. In fact, we probably would not be surprised if we were to learn later on that he was in prison. However, there is much more to his story, and much to learn from it. The police response ultimately resulted in a restorative intervention and provided Darryl with an alternative approach.

Dade County schools hit upon alternative measures of punishment through restorative justice

from the article by Jimmie Davis, Jr in the Westside Gazette: It’s easy for administrators at Miami-Dade County Public Schools [MDCPS] to suspend and expel students for misconduct, but the underlying is-sue of why pupils misbehave will not be resolved. So instead of rushing to ruin a kid’s career, the Educational Transformation Office [ETO] has embraced Restorative Justice at some of the “Rising 19” schools to address the root causes of why kids act out. In particular African American and Latino students are getting kicked out more than Caucasians, which leaves them vulnerable to getting into more trouble and they end up catching a charge and facing time behind bars.

Program to revamp student justice

from the article by Libby Jelinek in The Vista University of San Diego (USD) alum Justine Darling, '08, has collaborated with Student Affairs to establish a one-year pilot restorative justice program on campus that has the potential to transform how students experience USD's student conduct system. ....The one-year pilot program will implement restorative justice conferencing and peace circles to find solutions for issues in the campus community. The restorative justice process focuses on three main goals: to empower, to educate and to build relationships. Throughout the program, students are involved and invested in the decision-making process. The most valuable aspect of restorative justice, according to Darling, is that students learn another way to handle conflict in their lives, such that bringing the offender and impacted parties together can develop what would otherwise be a negative relationship into a positive one.

How victim rights became a juggernaut shaping spending, laws and the future of punishment

from the article by Alan Prendergast in Denver Westword: Newly elected as a state representative, Pete Lee hit the Capitol last January fired up with big ideas. The biggest of them all was the restorative-justice bill he introduced shortly after the session began.

Mother cares for her son’s Amish victims

from Daniel Burke's article in the Washington Post: ....Three months after the shooting, Chuck and Terri Roberts began visiting the victims and their families. Terri invited the surviving girls and their mothers to picnics and tea parties at her home. At one tea, Terri asked the mothers to sit in a circle and share the highest and lowest points of their lives. She yearned to connect with Mary Liz King, the mother of a paralyzed girl named Rosanna. King explained how her trials were different than the rest of the victims. Their daughters had died or healed, whereas Rosanna, unable to move most of her body, requires constant care.

Texas achieves dramatic results in criminal justice reform

from the press release from Right on Crime (hat tip to Grits for Breakfast): Right on Crime and the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) today released two policy briefs regarding Texas' extensive criminal justice reforms in juvenile and adult corrections. Over the last decade, the groups' policy advisors have been instrumental in working with the Texas legislature and Governor Rick Perry to overhaul the state's corrections system. "For the first time in state history, Texas closed a prison because we don't need it anymore," said Marc Levin, Senior Policy Advisor to Right on Crime, who also serves as the Director of the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. "The reforms that were first adopted in Texas have stimulated similar initiatives across the nation in South Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, Ohio, Arkansas, and other states. Crime has dropped in Texas since the changes and taxpayers have saved more than a billion dollars from not building new prisons. We believe these commonsense policies, which were supported by 'tough and smart on crime' conservatives and are outlined in these reports, can serve as an effective model for other states."