Denver Public Schools sings new tune on calming kids
January 30, 2010
Garcia was one of the central characters in a skit showing how a fight between two female students who bumped into each other in the hallway ended under the old and new policies. Under the old policy, the combatants were sent home for three days and threatened with trespassing if they showed...
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Dalo justice for farmers in Fiji
January 30, 2010
Under this program, the offender will return to the scene of the crime and, under supervision, plant five times the amount of dalo that was stolen. To determine the exact amount stolen, wardens liaise with Taveuni police to ascertain the true amount in metric tonnes that needs to be replanted....
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New blog: Inside the Baobob tree
January 30, 2010
….Baobab trees are multi-functional. They are native to many parts of Africa, Madagascar and North-western Australia and they are immense. Almost every part of the tree is used in one way or another. In the village of Toumbou-Ba the baobab is seen as a protector. A person under or inside...
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Fania Davis on differences between traditional and modernist constructions of justice
January 30, 2010
….A second major difference between modernist and indigenous constructions of justice is that, while the former is based upon interpretation and application of written rules, regulations, procedures, and statutory and common law, indigenous justice decision-making is grounded in values,...
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Griffin on the final report of the National Commission on Restorative Justice
January 30, 2010
In its final report, the Commission recommends the national implementation of restorative justice for adult offenders. The Commission believes that such a programme “will make a positive contribution to the lives of all citizens, and particularly to those more closely connected to...
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Feb 7, 2010: National day of prayer for criminal justice reform
January 30, 2010
They will pray for the empowerment of churches to serve those directly affected by the criminal justice system, by caring for victims of crime, providing necessary programs for ex-offenders seeking to reenter society, supporting families affected by crime, and advocating for reform of the...
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Oakland school board approves district-wide restorative justice initiative despite budget crisis
January 30, 2010
This district has tried many strategies to decrease violence and truancy like imposing closed campuses and … the increase of security and surveillance although there is already rising tensions between youth and police. These strategies don’t identify and address the pain and...
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Despite budget crisis, Oakland school board approves district-wide restorative justice initiative
January 30, 2010
“This district has tried many strategies to decrease violence and truancy like imposing closed campuses and … the increase of security and surveillance although there is already rising tensions between youth and police. These strategies don’t identify and address the pain...
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Bahamas: Prime Minister issues stern warning to criminals
January 26, 2010
The Prime Minister said that even as his administration steadfastly confronts the big issues with regard to crime and its causes, “we will also increasingly address other mindsets and behaviour of which criminal ideas and enterprise often take advantage, and in which they feel at...
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Taiwan hopes Japanese comics can teach prosecutors
January 26, 2010
The reading assignment is part of the ministry’s efforts to promote “restorative justice” — which seeks to encourage repair and reconciliation between the victims and the offenders, said Gloria Fei. “We hope prosecutors will become more compassionate so they can...
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As restorative justice practitioners, hard work needed regarding victims: Five things to do
January 26, 2010
Stay grounded in the parameters of the process. I decided that the Circle would flow better if we had the offender going last. That’s not what Restorative Justice guides us to do. You let the victim decide, and you give the victim that option…. Convey the...
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Internally displaced people in Colombia: Victims in permanent transition
January 26, 2010
This study is a serious and important contribution to the literature on reparation. It describes the historical context of the negotiations, the law on which the negotiations were carried out, how the law was interpreted by the Government and why, how the Government’s subsequent...
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Violent juvenile offenders: Adult time for adult crime?
January 26, 2010
In this CNN news piece there is a discussion of juvenile crime and the topic of “scientific research on the adolescent brain.” I tend to bristle at this type of discussion. Maybe it’s because I work with victims of violent crime. I think of their reaction. Some...
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Youth Justice in Western Australia
January 24, 2010
Some key priorities for action include: 1. a renewed police commitment to the principle that arrests, remands in custody, court appearances and the use of detention, should be options of last resort. 2. a more rigorous approach to gatekeeping of the justice system. Effective gatekeeping could...
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Abuse and restoration: A non-violent approach
January 24, 2010
….I finally told him how I had been feeling towards him and he was surprisingly compassionate; admittedly he does understand adversity well. He said if he had grown up hearing about how his father was the worst person in the whole world, and that he ruined our family he’d be...
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