School-based restorative justice; The perspectives of a judge and former school superintendent

Source: (2001) Restorative Justice in Action (Spring): 17. Special School Edition. Denver, Colorado: Colorado Forum on Community and Restorative Justice. Downloaded 5 April 2004.

Darrol Busler was a former educator in South St. Paul, Minnesota. He was also a crime victim who was not happy with the way the formal justice system treated him. In 1997 he brought together people from the schools, probation services, courts, police, and faith communities to talk about how other approaches to crime might be more responsive to victims. Hence, many interested citizens and professionals began learning about restorative justice, victim-offender mediation, and peacemaking circles. David Metzen, a former superintendent of South St. Paul schools, and Leslie Metzen, a Dakota County (Minnesota) trial court judge, tell how a Minnesota school district became committed to integrating circle and restorative processes into its philosophy of discipline at the same time that the local justice system began approaching some cases with restorative justice principles.