Reflections on Mandela
“Have you heard that Mandela died?” The staggering impact of this question took my breath away as I stepped into the office after teaching a full day of classes at Eastern Mennonite University on Thursday, December 5th. I texted my daughter who had grown up in South Africa, with these simple words, “Wow – this....
Restorative justice and the Gandhian tradition
I recently had occasion to reflect on some of the points of resonance between restorative justice and the Gandhian tradition. I am particularly grateful for the help of my friend Sujatha Baliga in this. As a Mennonite, I grew up in a family and a tradition of nonviolence and peacemaking, and knew something of Gandhi. ....
Next webinar: RJ, public policy and compassion
Our next webinar is coming up on October 23, with Chris Marshall from New Zealand as guest Chris is both a restorative justice practitioner and a biblical scholar. He is probably the world’s leading scholar bringing together restorative justice and the Christian tradition, and in a way that has immediate relevance to overall society. In....
Justice for Trayvon Martin – Adjudication or community? (Part III)
(Last of the three-part series by David Anderson Hooker) I take issue with three groups of comments that I’ve heard since the Zimmerman trial. I know that I am in disagreement with several individuals and institutional voices that I respect deeply. Yet I think our approach must change to get the life we want: a....
Justice for Trayvon Martin – Where do we go from here? (Part I)
In this three-part series, guest blogger David Anderson Hooker follows up on his earlier post, “Where will we find justice for Trayvon Martin?” Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman. Dead. Alive. Dead! Not responsible. Like the President. Like Emmett Till. Like every other child that has been murdered senselessly by gun violence. It was reasonable to....
An “anarchist” genius to restorative justice?
Guest blog post by Brian Gumm. One of my abiding interests during and after my time studying restorative justice at CJP with Howard Zehr was the influence of Anabaptist-Mennonite thought and practice in the formation of the modern restorative justice movement. Howard has gone on record as saying his intellectual formation was influenced in....
Restorative justice and system change, part II
In the previous blog entry, Carl started his discussion of restorative justice and system change by challenging part of Ross London’s argument in Ross’s recent book, Crime, Punishment and Criminal Justice – From Margins to Mainstream. This entry led to an important discussion. In order to continue this dialogue, we are publishing Ross’ response, with minor....
Restorative justice and system change
Ross London, in his recent book, Crime, Punishment and Criminal Justice – From Margins to Mainstream, argues that much of the identity crisis of the RJ field has been caused by the misguided notion of a “paradigm shift” popularized by my colleague Howard Zehr, one of the founding voices in the RJ movement, in his....
Imprints of justice – introducing Carl Stauffer
I am pleased that my friend and colleague Carl Stauffer has agreed to co-author this blog with me. Carl has brought new wisdom, insights and energy to our program and will be providing academic leadership in restorative justice now that I’m semi-retired. I have invited Carl to introduce himself below. – Howard I....
Does restorative justice need forgiveness?
Webinar: Does Restorative Justice Need Forgiveness?: A dialogue with Sujatha Baliga On January 5, The New York Times Magazine carried a story about the use of a restorative conference in a murder case in the early stages of the legal process, prior to a plea. The case was also highlighted on theToday Show a few days later. The story was....