Speaking to Scepticism
May 30, 2009
The theme of scepticism seemed to run through the questions about practice, the need to have an “inter-disciplinary team,†and concerns about the qualifications for facilitators. This could be seen by a statement made by students in both classes that I taught, “You have to...
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General guidelines when promoting Restorative Justice.
May 30, 2009
We laughed, I said I’ve heard that before. Here are two considerations, when talking with someone who is new to Restorative Justice. Read the full...
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Lisa Rea: Restorative Justice: Restoring Victims and Communities.
May 30, 2009
Advocates of restorative justice argue that it isn’t enough to just “process†offenders in ways that emphasize only the fact that their crime is a crime against the state. Instead, victims are seeking ways to heal while arguing that direct offender accountability will...
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Dan Van Ness: Do it now, the paradigm shift
May 29, 2009
PF is a Christian faith-based organization, so we included some biblical references. But we threw in some history as well. We are now over 20 years later, and it seems that we still await a paradigm shift in public attitudes and justice policy. So pull up the copy, enjoy the...
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Martin Wright: We need restorative justice
May 9, 2009
In 1895, a British government committee on prisons, chaired by Herbert Gladstone, the brother of the former prime minister, found the following probabilities of a further prison sentence (paragraph 85): Number of Imprisonments Probability of Further Prison Sentence 1...
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Staying the course to continue providing restorative justice
May 9, 2009
During my two-day visit with Tudor in England, we toured a prison, met with incarcerated people whom she had trained, and with staff who she also trained in restorative justice. Her kindness and compassion for people radiates. She stops to help anyone on the street who looks like they...
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Lessons in mercy: Justice and reconciliation in the aftermath of atrocities
May 9, 2009
From a Catholic perspective, punishment is a practice that restores shalom. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church affirms its purpose as “on the one hand, encouraging the reinsertion of the condemned person into society; on the other, fostering a justice that reconciles, a...
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To reform or to abolish? Christian perspectives on punishment, prison, and restorative justice
May 9, 2009
In using coercion as a delimiting factor, my analysis mirrors in a general way the approach used by numerous others to describe Christian engagement with society in general. Paying attention to coercion also has the added benefit of relativizing the widespread terminological disagreements over...
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Restorative justice in the Chronicle of Higher Education
May 9, 2009
I wonder whether many state Bars have refined their fitness questions and standards to reflect changes in the ways that campuses deal with offenses. Perhaps a good research paper for a law student?… Interesting question. The quoted excerpt from the Chronicle article is interesting...
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Rethinking drug courts: Restorative justice as a response to racial injustice
May 9, 2009
Where the drug treatment court gives a dominant role to criminal justice and therapeutic professionals, the community conferencing approach empowers lay community representatives, and is thereby capable of addressing some of the social capital deficits in inner-city minority communities that...
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Howard Zehr’s “Restorative justice three’s”
May 9, 2009
3 assumptions underlie restorative justice: When people and relationships are harmed, needs are created The needs created by harms lead to obligations The obligation is to heal and “put right†the harms; this is a just response. 3 principles of restorative justice reflect these...
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Restorative Justice: Working with students
May 9, 2009
When Karp arrived at Skidmore, he was conducting research on a restorative justice program run by the Vermont Department of Corrections. He then joined as a volunteer on the Skidmore Judicial Board, at which time he presented the possibility of a restorative justice program at the university....
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More from El Salvador: Victims of abuses during civil war speak out at International Tribunal
May 9, 2009
The testimonies heard by the Tribunal were powerful and disturbing. They narrated stories of incredible human suffering -death threats, tortures, disappearances, assassinations, scorched earth campaigns, massacres- all committed directly by or with the complicity of the Salvadoran Armed...
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“Tribunal of Restorative Justice” in El Salvador
May 9, 2009
Last month, however, a “Tribunal of Restorative Justice” was convened to hear the testimony of some of those victims. The tribunal was organized by the National Coordinator of Committees of Victims of Violations of Human Rights in the Armed Conflict and the Human Rights Institute...
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This pro made some rookie mistakes
May 9, 2009
I made a few ‘rookie’ mistakes. I did a few things I “train†other people NOT to do. I learned a great deal with the intensity of this issue. I would not recommend you jump into a subject like this, without serious training. I want to share with...
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