Justice

I've often thought that there would be, and I have occasionally seen suggestions of, links between the Occupy Wall Street movement, with its emphasis on inclusivity and consensus processes, and restorative practices, restorative justice and circles. In this piece by OWS member Stephan Geras about recent trainings by Kay Pranis in New York City, that hunch is confirmed. Below are some key passages in Geras's post at ZNet, "Restorative Justice at OWS." All added emphases below are mine.

Here are two passages excerpted from a piece in Ethos Journal by John Bennet, Restorative Justice Advisor at a youth detention facility in the UK. The first passage focuses on the use of youth meeting their victims in the prison, with a very high rate of success from the victim's point of view. These sound like victim offender mediation meetings, rather than full blown conferences, but they do seem to include the victim's, if not the offender's, family as well. The second passage describes use of what I imagine to be a more informal process internally, between youth in conflict

Mike Licht at FlickrCreativeCommons - Attribution LicenseHere's a fascinating suggestion, that journalists who print inaccurate stories that subsequently have a damaging effect on those they write about should be offered restorative justice first.

David Brindle, reporting for the Guardian (UK) writes:

Restorative justice schemes have been pioneered in the criminal justice sector, whereby a convicted offender can be forced to meet their victim and be invited to apologise. The idea has

Interdisciplinary Conference

This interdisciplinary conference will provide an international perspective on restorative practices theory and practice in a variety of settings, including education, social welfare, criminal justice, community development and workplaces. Restorative practitioners from around the world will share their knowledge and achievements and find encouragement, support and advice.

From the Denver Post:

As Sharletta Evans prepared for her face-to-face meeting with the man who killed her son, she couldn't escape one uncomfortable but gnawing need — to touch his hands.

"The harm he caused me was through his hands," said Evans, whose 3-year-old son, Casson, was slain in a 1995 drive-by shooting. "The fact that he actually pulled the trigger, it was something about the hands that kept coming to me."

But when the opportunity arose May 23, Evans hesitated, uncertain whether she could follow through with her request of Raymond Johnson, the man serving life without parole for the murder.

There was so much else Evans needed from Johnson, and it had been so long. He was 16 at the time of his crime, but he now stood a month shy of his 33rd

Henry's Story - Facing the Music

Photo from RJC

As I waited for Rachel to arrive I was absolutely terrified. I knew what would happen but it was terrifying doing it – actually facing her. She was the one I stole from. It went right to my guts. I knew then that this just wasn’t me – I had to change. I think back on that day and it gives me the attitude that I need to never go back to how I was before.

At 14 I moved schools and it was soon after that when a friendpressured me into trying ketamin for the first time. It became my addiction. I left school with 1 GCSE. I left my family

Martin Wright Speaking at the European Forum Conference for Restorative Justice Upon Receiving the AwardThe Restorative Justice Council reports (note the link below for a free download of Wright's "Toward a Restorative Society"):

In recognition of his outstanding contribution to restorative justice, Martin

Dignity in Schoolsposted this piece by Derek Slaughter, a high school student from Baltimore, Maryland who is involved in a national student movement to draft a Student's Bill of Rights. This strikes me as a significant move by youth to establish their own rights. I found some information about this movement here. Slaughter here argues for explicit mention of the "right to restorative justice" in this prospective "bill of

Photo by Paul Sableman, Flick Creative Commons

On May 9, 2012 a piece titled, "Jovenes Unidos Win Landmark Discipline Reform" was posted on the group's web site. It details a new law passed in Colorado which seems to do away with "zero tolerance" policy in schools – where children are summarily suspended or expelled for certain offenses.

Late Wednesday evening, the

This morning the RJC has sent an email "asking all our members to support our call to Government to enact restorative justice legislation" by Friday, June 22, 2012 (TODAY), and to take advantage of this "opportunity to make restorative justice available to all victims of crime."

The email states:

From the Oakland LocalThe Oakland Local has this thorough piece, "Oakland leads ways as restorative justice techniques enter education mainstream". It begins:

Jacob Mathis was a classic underachiever and troubled child.

The 15 year old’s grade point average was just 0.77 and by

Research from Derbyshire, UK posted in the Derby Telegraph confirms what other studies have also found: when done well, restorative justice conferences produce a very high victim satisfaction rate, exceeding both courts and mediation. Below is an excerpt of the article:

MORE than nine out of ten crime victims who saw offenders punished by restorative justice have been left satisfied by the outcome, say police.

A survey by Derbyshire Constabulary, showed 94.8% of those questioned were either fairly or very satisfied with the experience, a figure the force described as "phenomenally high" and an increase on last year's 90.8%.

IIRP President Ted Wachtel phoned in last night (very late) to report on the conference he's attending in Helsinki, Finland. He said:

Today I attended the first day of the European Forum for Restorative Justice Conference that’s being held in Helsinki, Finland. It was nice to hear Nils Christie give a plenary speech. Nils Christie is now an 84-year-old emeritus professor from Norway whose famous article, “Conflict As Property,” defined the whole idea that governments and courts and lawyers steal our conflicts, and that we should have a right and an

The following story appeared at the City of Lima's web page. The original story in Spanish can be found here. Thanks to Google Translate for translation!

Mayor Susana Villarán holds up a t-shirt reading "Give Back to Your City" at the program presentation

The Metropolitan Municipality of Lima has launched a program

Here's something we posted a few years back that I was reminded of today as someone else reposted it recently. It's footage of a conference for a group of girls in Albany who restored their relationships after a pretty serious fight. I think most of the people in the room were surprised that this would be possible through talking it out, but the conference format truly does facilitate that type of useful and constructive dialog.

For your reading pleasure, we now have the following titles available in Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks and Barnes & Noble Nook formats, for instant delivery and all priced at just under ten US dollars.

The Restorative Practices Handbook An  introduction and guide to restorative practices covering practical techniques, tips and strategies, implementation guidelines and real-world stories of restorative practices in action. 

Image from collegemagazine.com courtesy of nativeamericanministry.comHere's a piece by Kristi Eaton of the Associated Press from Pine Ridge, South Dakota. According to the story, the first circle has been convened for a youth case with hopes to continue and broaden the program. Note in the second paragraph that victims and relatives of

Two letters tell the story. This was posted Monday, May 7, 2012  in the Upper Rogue Independent, without a byline:

One of the programs that we administer in partnership with the Jackson County Juvenile Department is called the Victim Assistance, Youth Accountability (VAYA) program. This program is rooted in the principles of restorative justice - a community response to crime that focuses on addressing the harms done to victims and communities by holding offenders meaningfully accountable for their offenses. According to Cara Walsh, Director of Restorative Justice Programs for Mediation Works. We recognize that crime is more than just a violation against the law and state, but also a violation of people and relationships. Thus, our role in the community is to support youth in being accountable for the harms they caused, provide supportive services to victims of crime, and engage the community in this process, said Walsh.

The Restorative Justice Council has postedthat on June 9, 2012, in the Queen's Speech which marks the start of the new session of parliament, she will mention "Neighbourhood justice panels, in which community volunteers use restorative justice to deal with anti-social behaviour and low-level crime." This process will be a part of new legislation. According to RJC:

Israel is home to many different people and communities. Restorative dialogue among these individuals and groups and between them could make life much more relaxed and happy.

Israeli society was introduced to Restorative Justice and its concepts in the late 90’s. In November 2011 the Knesset (the Israeli Legislature) incorporated restorative justice in its legal system with the 16th amendment of the 1971 Youth Judgment, Punishment and Methods of Treatment Law, making restorative justice practices a formal criminal justice diversion in juvenile cases. Recently, the Israeli Ministry of Justice also initiated a pilot