The Quiet Power and Effectiveness of Restorative Justice

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What does restorative justice look like? We hear and read a lot about it, and its popularity is on the rise, but when I ask people to tell me what it means to them I often get vague answers. The truth is that restorative justice is taking forms undreamed of by those that started the movement decades ago. Their basic principles are intact: responsibility, care for all stakeholders, putting those harmed in the center of the process, repair instead of retribution, etc. The manifestations continue to multiply though.

For a Kid, Plea At Your Own Risk

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“Everybody in there is innocent, right?” This statement, or some variation of it, usually followed by laughter, comes up in a lot of conversations when I talk about doing time. It appears to be a common perception, verging on a stereotype, that prisons are full of people proclaiming their innocence. My experience was actually the opposite. Most men in prison admitted they had done something that led to their situation. More common was a story about extenuating circumstances, or how, even though they were guilty, the police and courts had abused their power somehow to prove it.

Restorative Justice Is The Solution

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I get in trouble sometimes when I talk (or write) about certain things. Whether the topic is prisoners’ rights, restorative justice, brain science, the treatment of juveniles by the system, or some similar issue, some people just become angry when they hear my opinion.I have variously been accused of ignoring victims, not holding offenders accountable, not understanding the complex realities, and not being focused on justice. This is good feedback for me, because I am interested in all of these things, and most particularly in justice. If we can meet the need for justice, these other issues will be addressed. Early on in my masters classes in conflict management we discussed various types of justice.

Prisoners Are Human Beings Too

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Sometimes I forget I was in prison, even though I spent nearly a quarter century there. Maybe, I just get caught up in the day-to-day concerns of my life out here in the “free world.”

I am a student in a fast-paced master’s program, so I am studying, reading, writing and attending 13 hours of class every other weekend. I write for two websites. I have an internship. When I can fit it in, I have the rest of my life to focus on, with a girlfriend, a house, pets, cooking and the other details of living an ordinary life. Maybe it’s not these things that cause me to forget my past though.

The Hidden Culture of Prison Violence

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I don’t remember when I first heard of The Angolite, the only uncensored prison publication in the country. It was sometime during the late eighties. Since 1976, prisoners incarcerated at Louisiana’s notorious Angola Prison produced the magazine without censorship. The writers revealed the horrible conditions of the prison, shedding light on sexual slavery, murders and corruption. The story that I most remember was about the gladiatorial games organized by inmates and supported by guards.

All That is Wrong With Private Prisons

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A friend of mine called me last week from prison. We hadn’t spoken in a few months, so we did a lot of catching up, mostly talking about how things were at the prison, friends, and the many turns my own life has taken. I told him that a mutual friend of ours was at the new private prison in Milledgeville, Ga., a place called Riverbend Correctional Facility. He groaned and told me he had heard only bad things about the place. Dozens of the most troublesome inmates at his prison had been sent to Milledgeville to populate the 1,500-bed facility run by the GEO group.

Reducing Gang Violence and Saving Money

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Scott State Prison, in Milledgeville, Ga., was originally built as a hospital during the Great Depression. I was there for a few years, until it closed in 2004. One of the unique features of this place, for a prison anyway, was that it had porches attached to the dormitories. These made a nice spot to go hang out in the heat of summer, and they provided a place for smokers to light up. It helped make up a little for the run-down conditions.

Beyond the Horrible, the Reality of Sexual Assault in Youth Detention

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 I was 18 years old when I was arrested and sent to jail. But the real hell of my life to come started on my 19th birthday, when the state shipped me off to a place called Alto, a notorious youth prison in north Georgia. There was much to fear in this place, but nothing quite frightening as much as the likelihood of sexual assault.

I knew from talking to older guys in jail, before I was sent off to Alto, that rapes were common, but nothing they told me prepared me for the reality of what I witnessed. The place (it has since been shuttered) had been built in the 1930s as a hospital. Fifty years later, it was a dilapidated house of horrors.

Shining a Light in the Darkness of Prison

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Reading saved my life. I can only guess at how many books I read in my nearly 25 years of incarceration. I feel certain that it is easily over a thousand. For me, the longer and more detailed the book was the better. One perfect book was To Kill a Mockingbird.

Swimming Pools, Not Prisons

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Until I was in the sixth grade my family lived on an Air Force base in South Georgia. The base was a great place for kids. From the time I was six or seven I could ride my bike to wherever I wanted to go. Trips to the movies or the library were a lot of fun, and my parents didn’t have to worry about whether or not I was safe. In the summer my favorite bike ride was to the swimming pool.