News & Announcements
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Anne Martin, director of restorative practices for Shalem Mental Health Network in Ontario, Canada, recently reviewed Margaret Murray's new mystery, Forging Justice.
Police Detective Claire Cassidy, the protagonist of Margaret Murray’s recently published novel Forging Justice: A Restorative Justice Mystery, is ready to quit her job. When it appears that Pee Wee Lebovitch has reoffended, this time killing an elderly woman, and three teenage girls have brutally attacked a storeowner leaving him in a coma, Claire has had it. She feels she cannot help keep the city safe. Her twelve years on the police force in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania feel like a waste of time. Is it time to turn in her badge?
While investigating the attack on the storeowner, Claire meets Democracy High School’s vice-principal Daniel Pierce. “Adolescence is a special kind of hell,” Claire thinks as she drives up to the school. “And high schools are surely one of its torture chambers.”
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The International Institute for Restorative Practices has been invited to present plenaries and breakout sessions at a series of summits across New York State to share how restorative practices can be used in schools to help end the school-to-prison pipeline and transform disciplinary policies that disproportionately impact minority youth.
The New York State Permanent Judicial Commission on Justice for Children, chaired by Former Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye, has been working on issues regarding exclusionary school discipline and its connection to the justice system for the last few years. With funding from The Atlantic Philanthropies, the commission is currently hosting a series of regional summits from October, 2013 through April 2014.
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This video includes the entire plenary session from day two of the IIRP’s 16th World Conference on the topic of restorative practices in schools. Dr. John Bailie, IIRP assistant professor and director of continuing education, moderated the panel. The panelists have all overseen restorative practices whole-school change in their respective schools and districts. In order of presentation, they are:
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A piece shown during the "Saving a Place at the Table" art exhibit, from Brattleboro Community Justice Center's web siteBrattleboro Community Justice Center (Vermont, USA) presented two exhibits at the city's monthly art gallery walk to commemorate its 10th anniversary and to recognize restorative justice week, which is celebrated from November 17 to 24 in Canada and other places.
Deborah Lee Luskin, for The Commons Online, explains the first exhibit this way:
“Saving a Place at the Table” serves to honor and remember Vermonters who have been victims of violent crime. The exhibit features table-place settings for those killed by criminal violence and those whose lives have been significantly changed by that violence.
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Artist Si Lewen, who donated his work to IIRP, surrounded by some of his paintingsArtist Si Lewen – who celebrates his 95th birthday today – donated his catalog of paintings and rights to his books to the IIRP to support the organization’s mission “to restore and build community in an increasingly disconnected world."
Last month renowned graphic novelist Art Spiegelman featured Lewen's The Parade in a special talk and performance given at Sydney (Australia) Opera House. The Parade: A Story in 55 Drawings, tells the saga of never-ending war as witnessed by Lewen, who watched the armistice parades after World War I morph into the death marches of World War II. Spiegelman is the author of many books including Maus, a two-volume portrayal of his father's experience during the Holocaust for which he was awarded a special Pulitzer prize.
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Julie Hilt, executive director of the Solano County Bar Association (Photo by Joel Rosenbaum for the Vacaville Reporter)The Solano County Bar Association (California), headed by Julie Hilt, executive director, is working to implement a restorative justice program for at-risk youth in the county, and also develop partnerships for building community with schools and others.
“We’re going to start with kids in diversion from the courts,” said Hilt. Later she hopes to apply for grants so the program can be developed to include adults in the criminal justice system and the jails.
The process of starting the program has involved building relationships and support with all the stakeholders one person at a time.
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This video includes the entire plenary session from day one of the IIRP's 16th World Conference on the topic of restorative practices in the criminal justice system. Dr. Craig Adamson, IIRP Assistant Professor and Director of Community Service Foundation / Buxmont Academy, moderated the panel. The panelists were, in order of presentation:
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Aerial photo of University of Florida campus by James Jones (Puggles) at Flickr Creative CommonsBrianna Donet of WUFT, National Public Radio from the University of Florida, reports, "Restorative justice is gaining popularity among college campuses, including at the University of Florida." The report continues:
Restorative justice practices are providing new avenues for describing justice and addressing law violations, Chris Loschiavo, Assistant Dean of Students, and Director of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution, said. These practices focus on the needs of the victims, the offenders and the community, instead of simply working to punish the offender, he said.
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Photo by Stuart Munro at the Wanganui Chronicle.In Wanganui, New Zealand, a city striving to become a restorative city, a company that "failed to ensure its employees' safety after a toxic leak," according to the court reporter for the Wanganui Chronicle, has pled guilty in court and is now requesting a restorative justice conference between the company and the injured workers. The report states:
"The leak on November 2 last year saw 21 workers exposed to hydrogen sulphide after a mix-up of chemicals. Two workers were in hospital for a week. ... The section 6 charge carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and judges may, at their discretion, also order emotional harm reparations to be paid.
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The 16th IIRP World Conference
October 21-23, 2013 | Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Pre/post-conference Oct. 19-20 & Oct. 24-25
Restorative Works Year in Review 2024 (PDF)
All our donors are acknowledged annually in Restorative Works.