Take five minutes to read this testimonial from a former prisoner. Just do it. You will be wiser if you do.
Restorative Prison, Part 3- Repairing the Harm
(Peace Circle at the California Chowchilla Prison for Women)
Things go wrong in prison. That’s a given.
The wrongdoing ranges from the minor (tobacco contraband, for example) to the most serious (such as rape and murder). Prisons are overcrowded, hot, and volatile places, where intimidation and violence are the norm.
For egregious violations, prison officials will refer to ‘outside’ criminal justice investigation and prosecution. Most rule violations, however, are handled internally, following established Corrections policies and processes. These processes typically mirror traditional criminal justice processes including the establishment of facts and guilt; the imposition of sanctions or punishments; and established processes for inmate legal representation and the right to appeal. Prisons even have their own form of a prison within a prison: segregation.
With this post, I explore how a restorative prison could respond to wrongdoing. [Read more…]
Restorative Prison, Part II- Conceiving the Possible
In the fall of 2017, I initiated a series of exploratory conversations with present and former Vermont Corrections leaders about developing a fully restorative prison facility. With their consultation and insight, I slowly and steadily designed a fellowship proposal that would have allowed me to work full-time within a single prison facility. Over the course of the 18-month fellowship, I would partner with facility staff and inmates to re-imagine their prison as a place of support, accountability, learning, and healing. [Read more…]
Transforming Prison into a Healing Community- Part 1
Restorative Justice is clearly a movement whose time has arrived. Wherever you look, there are stories of new and creative applications of restorative principles, which are shaping and transforming the cultures of our schools, communities, and businesses. The sky is the limit.
Except for one notable exception: prisons. Here, the walls–literal and figurative–persist. [Read more…]
Building a Hopeful Corrections
“The supreme aim of prison discipline is the reformation of criminals, not the infliction of vindictive suffering” (Declaration of Principles, 1870 National Congress on Penitentiary and Reformatory Discipline)
Nearly 150 years later, we are still having a debate about the purpose of prisons. [Read more…]