This report summarizes the discussion at a roundtable on peacemaking hosted by the Center for Court Innovation, with the support of the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance, as part of a planning process to create a pilot peacemaking program in the New York State court system.
Highlights from a roundtable discussion about engaging the public in justice programming. Questions addressed included: How do you define "community"? What are the goals of community engagement and how do programs engage communities and retain volunteers?
Dr. Mara Schiff, an associate professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida Atlantic University, focuses her work on restorative justice, community justice, and juvenile justice. Here, she gives on overview of restorative practices and discusses why a restorative approach can be particularly valuable for youth. (October 2012)
During a visit by the Tribal Justice Exchange to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington State, Robert V. Wolf talks with two elders--Matthew Dick Jr. and Darlene Wilder--and a client about peacemaking, a traditional Native American approach to resolving both criminal and civil issues. May 2012
Emily Gold spoke with Herb Yazzie, Chief Justice of the Navajo Nation, about his thoughts on collaboration, defining success, and the personal and professional experiences that shaped him as a leader.
Derek Miodownik, restorative systems administrator for the Vermont Department of Corrections, talks about the state's innovative experiments in community and restorative justice, including Citizen Reparative Boards, which give panels of community members a role in working with misdemeanor offenders, and Circles of Support and Accountability, which link community members with parolees convicted of serious crimes.
This paper--a joint project of Policy Exchange and the Centre for Justice Innovation--summarizes the experiences of 10 innovative criminal justice projects across the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Center for Court Innovation celebrated its 15th anniversary on Oct. 4, 2011 at the Chelsea Art Museum with the help of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, Center Director Greg Berman, and Mayoral Advisor John Feinblatt, who was the evening's honoree.
Court Administrator Susie Martin and Chief Probation Officer Lucinda Yellowhair explain how the Navajo Nation's pilot community court will draw on their culture's traditional restorative justice principles. Martin and Yellowhair discussed the Navajo initiative with Robert V. Wolf and Aaron Arnold of the Center for Court Innovation during a November visit by members of the planning team to the Red Hook Community Justice Center.
David Raasch currently serves as Associate Judge of the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Court, and he provides training and technical assistance to tribal communities as a tribal court specialist with Fox Valley Technical College. Here he discusses his role as a proponent of the peacemaking approach and his insight into the lingering distrust between tribal and state justice systems. This interview was originally published in the Fall 2009 Journal of Court Innovation.