Turning Mistakes of the Past into Tools for the Future

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One of the questions I have pondered since my release from prison is when and where to share my past with people in my life, both personally and at work. Sometimes it is an easy decision. When I started writing for JJIE it was hoped that my point of view, based on my experiences, would offer a voice not usually heard in discussions about justice. This week I was working in a diversion center, talking to some of the residents about communications skills. One of the guys commented that I needed to work with the staff, since the inmates had little conflict or trouble with one another.

Restorative Justice Practices Should not be Treated like a Commodity

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I was sitting with my brother in law watching television a few nights ago. It was late and we had been busy all day with Christmas stuff. I had made some hot apple cider with a little Irish whiskey, and we sipped it as we watched an old movie. A long commercial came on advertising the benefits of a national chain of cancer treatment centers. I remarked on how strange it seems to me that something like medical care is treated like a commodity, to the point of needing a slick ad campaign.

The Horror of Newtown must Never be Normal

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Pop quiz: What do the towns of Norcross, Chardon, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Tulsa, Seattle, Aurora, Oak Creek, College Station, Minneapolis, Brookfield, Happy Valley, and Newtown have in common? All of these communities were the sites of a “mass shooting.”

The last one may have given away the answer, but then again, by the time this is published several days will have passed since the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and Newtown will have already begun to fade from public awareness. Here is another one: How many teens and kids were killed this past summer in Chicago? The answer is 38. For those interested, Complex magazine offers a tribute to each of the young people.

A Long Restorative Road to Justice and Graduation

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Almost 18 months ago I wrote my first opinion piece. Predictably perhaps, it was about restorative justice, the topic I have covered the most. Today, if I can manage to get myself together, I will drive to Kennesaw State University and receive a master’s degree in conflict management. Yesterday, I hurried to work at the Georgia Conflict Center, scrambling as usual to get my final plans in place for the day’s work. I spent nearly two hours at the high school where my colleague Gwen O’Looney and I have been meeting with students this semester.

When a Few Kids Step Forward

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“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing,” is perhaps the most often quoted statement of Edmund Burke, an Irish philosopher and politician. In fact, the origin of the quote is unknown, and no definitive source can directly attribute it to Burke. Nevertheless, it matches the spirit of much of his writing. In some versions of the quote “few” is placed before men. I like to think that this version is true, that just a few people standing up for what is right can make a difference.

Recognizing the Invisible Threads Connecting Us All

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My first workshop in restorative justice was just a few years ago. I had been studying the literature, and considering how the work I was doing fell within the RJ framework, but I had yet to meet any practitioners from the outside. That changed when some volunteers from the Georgia Council for Restorative Justice visited me in prison. I had written them a letter asking for help, and they answered that request in ways far beyond what I hoped for. We met in a small classroom in the library.

A Thanksgiving Reflection: How Advocacy Can Make a Difference

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Early this week, I was having Thanksgiving dinner with my fiancée. She is on her way home for the holiday, and I am staying in Georgia to work on my final paper for school and take care of a few other tasks, so we shared the meal a few days early. Before we began to eat, we took a few moments to talk about what we have been grateful for this past year. It was a pretty long list for both of us, and touched on our relationships, our work, good health, and many other things. It seems that gratitude has been coming up a lot in my life lately, in discussions with friends and online.

Pondering the Limits of Criminal Justice Reform

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On Monday I spoke via Skype with a group of students enrolled at Georgetown University. Some friends of mine teach a class on social justice and conflict studies. Twice I have joined the class to discuss my own experiences with the criminal justice system, restorative justice, my current work, and any other insightful (and difficult) questions they come up with. Several wondered how prison could be changed to address issues of safety and violence, and whether or not restorative responses still allowed for incarceration. These are interesting topics to me, and I am able to talk about them with ease, but a few questions left me pondering the limits of criminal justice reform.

Alternative Schools Should Not be like Prison

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People don’t smoke in school anymore – at least they aren’t supposed to. My office is near an open campus high school, and I see a kid sneaking a cigarette from time to time. Nobody chews tobacco either, or (presumably) has a knife in their pocket. At my high school in south Georgia some kids had gun racks in their trucks, and they had real guns in them. One thing we lacked, unlike today, was a police presence in the school. Another was an alternative school.

Mentoring can Help Troubled Teens

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The first time I was asked to be a mentor I thought about Homer’s Odyssey.  I am a bit of a geek I guess, and I recalled that the original Mentor was an advisor to Odysseus’ son, Telemachus. Even more interesting, at least to me, was that the goddess of wisdom, Athena, took the guise of Mentor when she sought to guide Telemachus on his own journey in search of his father. Now, if Telemachus’ guide was none other than the goddess chosen to represent wisdom, who was I to step into that role? I certainly didn’t feel wise.