Restorative Justice Victims

Restorative Justice Protects Victims While Retributive Justice Seeks Revenge

Restorative justice values the voice of victims and works to protects their rights.  Another sad example of how our retributive justice system works to re-victimize victims, is the story of a woman whose voice was not heard or valued by the system. The woman was 13 years old in 1977 when charges were brought against movie director Roman Polanski for sexually assaulting her.  Because Polanski fled the county before being sentenced for having sex with…

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Apology Restorative Justice Solution-Focused

Teaching Youth How to Make Apologies Using Restorative Justice Principles

Making effective apologies is a necessary skill.  Yet few of us know how to do it and most of us fail to teach our children how to make effective apologies.  Many of us think we can simply say, “I’m sorry,” or “Please forgive me.”  But often an apology requires that we do more.  Restorative justice principles provide ideal questions to ask others and ourselves when we need to make a meaningful apology. Ben Furman is…

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prisons

Bad Prison Policy Risks Community Safety in Hawai’i

The state of Hawai‘i’s current prison polices risk the safety of our community and waste scarce public resources.  The decision to close Kulani prison is a case in point. Hawai‘i’s Republican governor Linda Lingle and her prison administration are closing Kulani prison, which focuses on treatment and rehabilitation.  At the same time the administration gives $50 million a year to the private prison company Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) to imprison people thousands of miles…

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forgiveness

Forgiveness is Power for Victims

Marina Cantacuzino a journalist and the founder of The Forgiveness Project in London writes for the Huffington Post about having compassion for those who commit even the most despicable crimes and the power it gives victims.  Marina has interviewed and written about dozens of people from all over the world who have been seriously hurt by crimes, those who committed the offenses, and how the power of forgiveness has helped people heal. She discusses the…

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