As I argued in my last blog entry (Part I), making a difference must start with approaching justice differently. Justice describes the relational qualities among people. Said another way: justice is rooted in community. For actions to be just, they must be aligned with established community values or seek to restore the quality of relationships that....
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....
Upcoming webinars on schools and prison
Two new webinars are coming up. The Promise and Challenge of Restorative Justice Practices in Schools School applications are probably the fastest growing area of restorative justice. What are the potential benefits? What are the barriers and challenges to implanting restorative justice practices? What works and what does not? In this webinar, Nancy Riestenberg and....
Restoration is a metaphor
In an earlier blog entry I discussed the importance of metaphor and promised to say more about how this applies to justice. Here, finally, are more thoughts on metaphors and justice. The following points are inspired by James Geary’s book, I Is An Other: The Secret Life or Metaphor and How It Shapes the Way....
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....
Real world restorative justice webinar series and more
I realize that a new blog entry is overdue, and that the following does not get me off the hook, but here is an announcement. Our program is launching a new series of restorative justice webinars entitled Real World Restorative Justice. The first four will be free and I will be hosting most of them.....