Restorative Justice

Restorative justice focuses on repairing harm and restoring relationships.

Restorative justice offers people a chance to respond to a conflict or wrongdoing in a way that is both meaningful and just. By emphasizing the needs of those who were hurt, encouraging accountability by those who caused the harm, and including the community, restorative justice promotes healing rather than punishment.

In 2013, the Center for Court Innovation worked with mentors from tribal communities to launch its first peacemaking initiative in Red Hook, Brooklyn. This diversion program replaced jail and other court-imposed punishments with a community-based peacemaking process. Its success prompted two similar community-based programs in Syracuse and the Bronx.

Committed to continuing to test our ideas, we embarked on a federally-funded randomized controlled trial, implementing and measuring the impact of restorative practices in five high schools in Brooklyn, N.Y. The study, to be completed in 2020, will examine how to shift school culture and reduce the use of suspensions and expulsions, with a focus on key disparities related to race and disability. In a separate initiative, we are investigating how restorative justice can be integrated into the movement to end gender-based violence.

The Center is committed to sharing its lessons learned about restorative justice with communities around the world.

PBS NewsHour profiles the work of our Restorative Justice in Schools program.

Initiatives

Peacemaking Program

Building on a traditional Native American approach to justice, the Center’s peacemaking programs focus on healing and community restoration rather than punishment.
Restorative Justice in Schools

We've implemented restorative justice programs in five New York City high schools aimed at strengthening relationships school-wide.

Publications & Digital Media

Publication
Shrinking the Footprint of Police: Six Ideas for Enhancing Safety

Spurred by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black Americans at the hands of police, demands are increasing for money to be redirected from police budgets. No single strategy can achieve meaningful change; through experience and research, we have identified a number of sustainable community-driven solutions that can limit the role of police, while building safe and strong neighborhoods.

Reducing Violence, Addressing Racial Disparities, Youth Programs, Restorative Justice
Audio
Students Win NPR Podcast Award: Climate Change is Racial Injustice

Seven students in our Restorative Justice in Schools Program won NPR's 2020 student podcast competition, out of thousands of entries from across the country. On the winning episode, the students—part of the Men in Color after-school program at their Brooklyn high school—discuss climate change and environmental racism. They created the episode after participating in the New York City youth climate march, where they interviewed people about how black communities intersect with climate justice.

“Climate change is racial injustice,” the students conclude.

Restorative Justice, Addressing Racial Disparities
Publication
A National Portrait of Restorative Approaches to Intimate Partner Violence

by Amanda Cissner, Erika Sasson, Rebecca Thomforde Hauser, Hillary Packer, Joan Pennell, Emily L. Smith, Sarah Desmarais, and Gale Burford

Based on a national survey and five in-depth case studies, this study seeks to document how restorative approaches are being applied to intimate partner violence across the country. It concludes with a series of guiding principles and recommendations for the field.

Domestic Violence, Restorative Justice

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News

Restorative Justice Students Speak Their Truth on Racial Injustice, Win NPR Contest

June 17, 2020
NPR

"Climate change is racial injustice." Taking that as their topic, students in our Brooklyn-based Restorative Justice in Schools program placed first out of 2,200 submissions in NPR's Student Podcast Challenge. Read more about the students, and hear their award-winning episode, in this NPR profile. "Racism is like a tree," explains one of the students, "and police brutality and environmental racism are just a couple of branches off that giant tree."
Men in Color Group Wins NPR's Student Podcast Challenge

June 3, 2020
The Brian Lehrer Show

Out of 2,200 submissions across the United States, "The Flossy Podcast," created by the Men in Color group, a project of our Restorative Justice in Schools program, won NPR's Student Podcast Challenge. Students Jaheim and Joshua and teacher Mischael joined WNYC's Brian Lehrer to discuss their winning episode on climate change and environmental racism.
What Will Prisons Look Like After COVID-19?

May 14, 2020
USA Today

In a call to "create a better, more holistic approach to justice in America," an opinion piece in USA Today includes our Red Hook Community Justice Center and Harlem Community Justice Center as examples of restorative justice programs that focus on healing and break the cycle of justice-involvement.

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