We Need the Legalization of Being Black
I have sometimes imagined that because of my time in prison I can understand what it is like to be black in the United States. I lived for nearly 25 years under conditions of control, viewed with...
View ArticlePlenty of Blame for Turmoil at a Tennessee Lockup
Running a prison is difficult under any circumstances. With conflicting demands to provide both security and rehabilitative services, and often understaffed and poorly funded, it’s not surprising that...
View ArticleFor Real Juvenile Justice Reform We Must Look at the Data Objectively
We don’t always understand the world as well as we imagine, especially when it comes to the effects of public policy. This includes the crime rate and the impact of various interventions on it. Despite...
View ArticleEric Holder Was a Bold Advocate for Change
Eric Holder, the first African-American attorney general, resigned on Thursday, though he’ll remain at his post until his replacement is confirmed. Holder’s tenure has been a mixed bag in many ways,...
View ArticleNo ‘Normal’ Response by Black People Possible to Continued White Supremacy
When you live in an abnormal situation, one that fundamentally is not suited to humans beings, there is no possibility of a normal response. You may fight, you may go along, you may go crazy or any...
View ArticleEven Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect — And That’s OK
“If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” G.K. Chesterton I’ve used that quote as a guide for some time now, and nowhere more frequently than in my work promoting and practicing restorative...
View ArticleCan Reform Efforts Strengthen Justice System?
Being an advocate and practitioner of restorative justice can be a daunting pursuit. We often find ourselves looking at the world through a radically different lens than many of the people we work with...
View ArticleFerguson Latest Example That Courts Don’t Bring Justice
In this moment of high drama when the nation’s attention is focused on Ferguson, it is important to remember something: The entire saga of Michael Brown’s killing is simultaneously an individual...
View ArticleAbuse Survivors Convention Combines Frustration, Optimism for Future
Max SchwartzMike Aguilera, a member of U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff’s staff, speaks to the convention. LOS ANGELES — People who were abused as children while in institutional facilities feel some optimism...
View ArticleWhen School and Out-of-school Time Intersect
A colleague of mine talks of the culture differences that sometimes exist between schools and out-of-school time (OST) programs. He suggests that the two entities may not speak the same language or...
View ArticleTop Headlines 06/26/2014
Juvenile Justice SAMHSA and MacArthur select Georgia, Tennessee, Massachusetts and Indiana for new program to divert kids with behavioral disorders. Rehabilitation not correlated with decrease in...
View ArticleMore Efforts Focus on Treatment Instead of Sanctions for Youth with Mental...
One shining light in the effort to address all of these problems is a collaboration between the federal government, states and one of the nation’s largest private grantmakers. The post More Efforts...
View ArticleGlobal ‘Restorative Processes’ Emphasize That Justice Occurs Everywhere
I don’t like the phrase “restorative justice,” even though I use it often. Why? Too many people associate it only with the police, courts, probation officers and other facets of the criminal justice...
View ArticleU.S. Policies Are at the Heart of Why ‘Unaccompanied Minors’ Are Crossing the...
The uproar between the left and right over “unaccompanied minors” and what to do about them is masking the long-standing role of the U.S. in creating the corrupt and destabilized societies these kids...
View ArticlePopularity of Restorative Justice Has its Pitfalls
Evidence suggests that restorative practices produce superior results when compared to punitive and retributive systems, but those who support this philosophy need to be on guard. The post Popularity...
View ArticleLock-Up Must Not Translate into a Death Sentence for Kids
For youth in detention (including post detention) the rate of completed suicide is two to four times higher, surpassing the rate of adults most at risk in the general population. The post Lock-Up Must...
View ArticlePolitical concerns trump child welfare in Connecticut
More than three months after sending an unconvicted transgender minor to an adult prison, Connecticut child welfare officials seem more concerned about avoiding political fallout than protecting the...
View ArticleWe Must Stop Accepting Violence in Prisons
In the U.S. we usually consider prisons and jails to be violent places, as if there were no alternative, but the conditions of prisons and jails are the direct result of what we allow. The post We Must...
View ArticleIs It True America is Not for Black People?
Michael Brown was killed because he was black. He was killed because the police in his community, like those in many other communities across the nation, view citizens as the enemy, not as those whom...
View ArticleCan Young Offenders Be Rehabilitated?
Are there those for whom redemption is impossible? I have known a lot of men who committed terrible deeds, and it seemed to me that every one of them had the potential to change, if they chose to and...
View Article
More Pages to Explore .....