Justice

Considering the national focus on the George Zimmerman murder trial, particularly over the past month during the trial and its conclusion with a "not guilty" verdict Saturday, this piece, "Restorative Justice for Trayvon Martin," seems particularly relevant. Written by Dr. Mikhail Lyubansky, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and originally published in the Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology,

Attorney and author Hazel Thompson-Ahye has long been deeply committed to reforming justice. Now it is her mission to implement restorative practices in her home country of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as other parts of the Caribbean.

After first hearing about restorative justice in 1999 from New Zealand prison chaplain, Father Jim Consedine, at a Penal Reform International conference in London, Thompson-Ahye was inspired to become involved in initiatives that attempted to bring restorative justice to Trinidad and the Bahamas.

Then in 2012 she read an article online from the IIRP about how restorative practices could help

Several pieces of news have come through recently from New Zealand, the Land of the Long White Cloud and birthplace of "Family Group Conferencing."

The precursor to restorative conferences were developed and ensconced in law in New Zealand as part of the Children, Young Persons and their Families Actof 1989. This law led on the one hand to the family group conference (known as Family Group Decision Making in North America), which engaged extended families to develop a plan when a child was at risk of placement outside the home in cases of abuse. A

In this video, Sujatha Baliga, Director, Restorative Justice Project, and Senior Program Specialist, National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD), gives a fascinating 12-minute talk linking her own Buddhist meditation practice to the concepts of restorative justice and restorative practices.

Baliga first recounts her own personal journey. As a victim of sexual abuse by her father, she first became a victim advocate before deciding to attend law school, initially to become a prosecutor. Just before beginning law school, however, she had a personally transformative experience during a 10-day silent mediation retreat which

Photo of crime victims, Eliza and Blake Webb by Dean Rutz in the Seattle Times

This remarkable story, by Christine Clarridge in the Seattle Times the other day, recounts what happened after a woman found a cell phone left behind in her ransacked car. The story begins:

"When Eliza Webb found a stranger’s cellphone inside her ransacked car last month, it didn’t take a lot of sleuthing to determine two

A call for papers has been issued for a conference titled "Restorative Justice, Responsive Regulation & Complex Problems" to be held at Davis Conference Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA, on July 16 to 18, 2014.

The announcement states:

Restorative justice offers values and practices to make regulation responsive to families and communities. Responsive regulation offers a framework to bring together the know-how of practitioners and regulators to solve complex problems. But little theoretical and

Restorative Justice: An International Journal has announced that its first issue is now in print. The journal is available from Hart Publishers. eForum subscribers are eligible for a discount. A sample, which includes the first four pieces in the journal, may now be downloaded.

Contents of Volume 1. Issue 1. 2013

Editorial

An adventure is

A prison on the River Danube by Diana Allesok at Flickr Creative Commons."Talks Behind the Walls: Restorative Encounters in Prison Settings," a new paper by Dóra Szegő (Researcher, Foresee Research Group, Hungary) and Dr. Borbala Fellegi (Executive Director, Foresee Research Group, Hungary) published in the

The following is the opening of an article from the Bangor Daily News by Judy Harrison.

Maine is on the edge of a major reform to its criminal justice system that would replace the current punitive culture with restorative justice principles, an organizer of a daylong conference told participants Tuesday.

Sponsored by the Restorative Justice Institute of Maine based in Augusta, about 100 people, including district attorneys, jail officials, police officers, advocates, volunteers and employees with the ...

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Photo by Jon Feinstein at Flickr Creative CommonsRestorative justice, while able to benefit the needs of young adult offenders and those they victimize, is underutilized. That's according to a report released today by the Restorative Justice Council (RJC) in the UK. "Restorative Justice: Factoring in maturity and facilitating desistance" by Ian Marder does three things:

• Explains the concept of maturity and how it develops in young adults. It argues

This year Colorado has passed yet another law to advance the use of restorative justice across the state. With this law Colorado State House Representative Pete Lee and State Senator Linda Newell continue to build upon past legislative victories. They enjoy the support of many grassroots efforts as well as the work of a wide range of schools, police, probation and prison workers, and community groups across the state.

Restorative Justice Colorado, which was established by state legislative action back in 2008

Restorative Justice: An International Journal, is currently seeking submissions.

As stated on its web site, this peer-reviewed academic journal "seeks to facilitate the development and exchange of the best and most rigorously researched theoretical and practical scholarship within the domain of Restorative Justice (RJ).

"Restorative Justice publishes original, ground-breaking and innovative articles about RJ and contains a vibrant book review section in which new books relevant to RJ

Photo by iangbl at Flickr Creative Commons

When a new program or practice becomes more common, it is bound to face criticism as it draws attention. This is true for restorative justice, particularly as it gains ground in the UK and increasingly is sanctioned by law. During a 7-minute discussion on BBC radio, Peter Neyroud, the former chief constable of Thames Valley police department (which ...

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Image by DonkeyHotey at Flick Creative Commons

An extraordinary essay has recently been published in the United Kingdom by the Institute for Public Policy Research, a progressive think tank based in London, England. Paul Nolan, director of Justice Fellowship, the criminal justice reform arm of Prison Fellowship

Reconciliation statue by Josefina de Vasconcellos, in St. Michael's Cathedral, Coventry, UKI recently came across an article by Paul Chambers in UK's Third Way Magazine, which provides a good introduction on restorative justice. Titled "Face-to-face justice," the piece begins by recounting a raw and emotionally powerful situation:

She walks down the long corridor from her cell to the

The following is the first few paragraphs of an article by David Greenwald for Vanguard Court Watch of Yolo County, California, titled "DA Puts Forward Innovative "Neighborhood Court" Program Incorporating Principles of Restorative Justice." 

On Monday the Yolo County District Attorney's office unveiled an innovative new pilot project, modeled after a program that San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon implemented two

Moment of silence for Boston bombing victims. Photo by Rebecca Hildreth at Flick Creative Commons

Pierre R. Berastaín, a student at Harvard Divinity School, proposes that restorative circle processes be used to address the violence last week at the Boston Marathon, and the frayed feelings of people throughout the city of Boston and elsewhere. Writing on a Huffington Post blog, in a piece titled "Restorative Justice: Re-storying What

"Restoring Hope: An Indigenous Response To Justice," a 52-minute documentary, aired last week and is now available for viewing online. It includes footage of restorative conferences as well as interviews with participants.

Watch here: Restoring Hope: An Indigenous Response To Justice | Māori Television.

This short piece from the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) does a particular good job of explaining the restorative justice conference process, and the need for both victim and offender to agree to a meeting.

The restorative justice scheme means people who have admitted their crimes are allowed to meet their victims, or make amends by doing some sort of remedial work.

"Firstly it's the victim that's approached," added Insp Davies, who leads the force's restorative justice scheme.

"If it's in the interest of the victim, and the victim wants it, we would then discuss that with the

IIRP assistant professor and director of Continuing Education John Bailie at a Basic Restorative Practices event in Singapore

Lutheran Community Care Services Ltd. (LCCS), a new IIRP affiliate in the Republic of Singapore, hosted IIRP assistant professor and director of Continuing Education Dr. John Bailie in presenting a four-day Basic Restorative Practices event in the Southeast Asian island city-state in March. Twelve participants