Restorative Justice

Clayton PaschkeBen MangerDana CallahanMatthew George

Three Different Questions (Zehr)

Criminal Justice

What laws have been broken?

Who did it?

What do they deserve?

Restorative Justice

Who has been hurt?

What are their needs?

Whose obligations are these?

Principles of Restorative Justice

1. Crime is a violation of people and interpersonal relationships

2. Violations create obligations

3. The central obligation is to put right to wrongs

Restorative Justice Process Victim, Offender, and Community ideally meet

Panel

Face to face meetings

Proximity meetings

Victim/offender conferences

Family group conferences

Circles

THE GOAL: Complete a restorative contract that heals as much harm as possible

History of Restorative Justice in Vermont

1980s: Beginning of community-centered movement in VT

1995: Reparative probation program origins

Role of the VT Department of Corrections

Vermont Restorative Justice Now

12 active Community Justice Centers

72 reparative boards

45 towns

500 + volunteers

Success in Vermont

Criminals on reparative probation (1998-2005): 23% less likely to commit a crime on

probation 12% less likely to commit a crime

following probation.

Offender re-entry efforts Department of Justice grant

•HRC Report (2006) Recommendation #3: Train human relations advisers to provide support to persons who experience harassment.

Healing Victims

•TSW Report (2008): Those who process reports of sexual assault should take a more victim-oriented approach.

Offender Accountability

Strategic Plan (2006) Recommendation #26: Encourage a culture of collaboration.

MC Mission Statement: “We strive […] to cultivate the intellectual, creative, physical, ethical, and social qualities essential for leadership in a rapidly changing global community.”

Community Involvement

Strategic Plan (2006) Recommendation #27: Cultivate and support creativity and innovation.

Strategic Plan (2006) Recommendation #30: “Strengthen internal communication, and make sure that all constituents within the Middlebury community feel connected and aware of the matters that affect them.”

College Handbook: “Middlebury College recognizes its obligation to promote the welfare of the College community as a whole.”

Restorative Justice and Higher Education

Restorative justice is particularly useful for colleges and universities: Small, Close knit communities Sensitive relationships with “outside”

towns and cities Different groups with different needs of a

judicial system: Faculty, staff, students, community

members

Skidmore College

One of the first successful, truly restorative programs at a liberal arts college in the United States

Restorative conferencing approach used in order to facilitate communication between the offender, victim and community.

Goal driven restorative contracts used to “correct the harm”. Tailored and individual contracts are made in order to prevent generalized community service that is meaningless to the offense committed.

University of Colorado, Boulder

Over 400 instances per year where academic or community discipline is needed

Restorative group approach to dealing with conflict

Restorative contracts made with administrative, community, and student input. Standardized contracts using pre-established

norms for certain offenses. This is a necessity in the larger UC Boulder

system