Monday, January 7, 2013

restorative justice for murder?



RESPONSE TO 1/6/13 NYT MAGAZINE ARTICLE:
“CAN FORGIVENESS PLAY A ROLE IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE”
Hal Pepinsky, pepinsky@indiana.edu, pepinsky.blogspot.com
January 7, 2013
                I thank Steve Russell and Mecke Nagel for pointing out a nicely detailed account of victim-offender conferencing by Paul Tullis in yesterday’s New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/magazine/can-forgiveness-play-a-role-in-criminal-justice.html?emc=eta1&_r=0).  I wrote an online comment:
Thanks for a very moving and detailed story.  Restorative justice conferencing is chronicled in a robbery-murder case in an award-winning Australian documentary: "Facing the Demons," available with commentary at realjustice.org .  "Restorative justice" networks by murder victims' families exist in the US (Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation, mvfr.org) and in Israel-Palestine as No More Taking Sides.  It is the way that the Rwandan tradition of gcaca has worked in the wake of genocide.  There is no personal harm done that is too grave for safe and voluntary victim-offender conferencing or mediation to help heal.
Love and peace, Hal

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