Judges

Lawyers as Peacemakers: Practicing Holistic, Problem-Solving Law

from Lainey Feingold's review on BeyondChron: J. Kim Wright is an ambitious woman. In this comprehensive resource manual, she describes dozens of ways in which lawyers, judges and legal workers across the country (and around the world) are attempting to change their profession for the better. The terms sound hopeful – Holistic Law, Renaissance Law, Transformative Law, Law with a Meditative Perspective. Spiritual Law, Law as a Healing Profession, Restorative Justice, Therapeutic Jurisprudence. Most profoundly, as the title reflects, “Lawyers as Peacemakers.” Lawyers as Peacemakers, published by the American Bar Association, clocks in at over 500 pages including appendixes, resources and information about its many contributors. The book includes essays, quotes, interview snippets, profiles and articles written by both Wright and leaders in the various alternative legal processes she explores.

Stephens, Megan. Lessons From the Front Lines in Canada's Restorative Justice Experiment: The Experience of Sentencing Judges.

abstract unavailable.

Fellegi, Borbála. Reconciliation between retribution and restoration: attitudes of judges and prosecutors towards restorative justice in Hungary

PowerPoint slides from a presentation exploring the 'concerns and motivations of judges and prosecutors' just prior to the implementation of restorative justice.

Van de North, John. Problem-Solving Judges -- Meddlers or Innovators?

Problem-solving courts are getting a lot of attention these days from those working in the field of criminal justice. Problem-solving courts are designed to focus on specific and recurring conditions, such as mental illness and chemical dependency, that accompany and often underlie criminal behavior. The question seems to be whether these courts are an ill-conceived fad or will have - and should have - a permanent place in addressing criminal behavior in the community. Although there are data demonstrating that problemsolving courts are producing positive results, some have suggested that such courts may be using a disproportionate amount of resources for a limited number of participants. The cost/benefit debate is beyond the scope of this Article. However, I will address another group of critics who maintain the judges in these courts are acting as social workers rather than jurists and are inappropriately meddling in legislative matters. (excerpt)

Lazaro, Joao and Marques, Frederico. Restorative Justice in Portugal

The legal systems in civil law societies such as Portugal apply the legality principle that limits the discretion of judges and prosecutors to divert matters from criminal proceedings. This article, summarized from a paper by Federico Marques and João Lázaro, reviews efforts in Portugal to introduce victim offender mediation using existing legal measures. The full article is attached for download.

Anonymous. Judges See Potential 'Across the Board'

As restorative justice has gotten increasingly popular in the Aukland area, more and more judges are making referrals for offenders to attend victim-offender conferences. Cathy Brown, a restorative justice co-ordinator, hopes for more referrals to be made for multiple conviction offenders, not just first-time offenders. She also emphasizes the need for proper timing so that the victim does not feel rushed into contact. Police officers are attending conferences in large numbers and are giving positive feedback about what they experienced.

Leip, Leslie and Bazemore, Gordon. Victim Involvement in the Juvenile Court: Judges' Perspectives on the Role of A Key Stakeholder in Restorative Justice.

Balanced and restorative justice (BARJ) is a new framework for juvenile justice reform. The BARJ approach focuses on community needs and expectations in juvenile justice intervention – that is, needs and expectations that justice systems will improve public safety, sanction juvenile crime, and rehabilitate and reintegrate offenders. In this view, responding to the harm of crime is best accomplished with involvement from crime victims, citizens, and offenders in a process that maximizes their participation. For crime victims and community members to become fully engaged in the response to youth crime, juvenile justice professionals must begin to think about these stakeholders in different ways. This in turn will likely change the very role of the juvenile justice professional and the mandate of the juvenile justice system. In this context, and with emphasis on the perspectives of juvenile court judges, the authors of this paper examine the benefits and obstacles of engaging crime victims in the juvenile justice process. Their reflections are based on findings from a national survey of juvenile court judges in the United States, as well as from data derived from focus groups in four states.

Leip, Leslie and Bazemore, Gordon. Victims' Needs, Restorative Justice and the Juvenile Court: An Exploratory Study of U.S. Judges

A random sample of 200 juvenile court judges was selected from a national population of 2,500 identified through the 1997 National Directory of Children, Youth and Families Services and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. The questionnaire included 26 items that asked judges to agree or disagree, using a seven-point scale, with statements about improving juvenile justice. In addition to variables based on demographic and career information, several independent and dependent variables were developed based on the judges' responses to the questions. Researchers used three items on the questionnaire to develop general indicators of judges' orientation toward victim needs and the offender's obligation to restore victim's loss as a focus of juvenile justice intervention. Independent variables were divided into three theoretical categories: individual experiences, which include demographic and background variables; organizational environment; and professional ideology or orientation. Survey findings show moderately strong support among judges for an emphasis on victims and repairing harm in juvenile justice intervention. Similarly, relative to other priorities, this emphasis ranks relatively high on the list of judicial priorities for sanctioning and disposition. Less encouraging, from a restorative justice perspective, is the fact that accountability to victims as an overall goal of juvenile justice is given lower priority than public safety, rehabilitation, and deterrence. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

McLeod, Colleen and Bazemore, Gordon. Restorative Justice and the Future of Diversion and Informal Social Control

Bazemore and McLeod observe that restorative justice proponents often suffer from a problem of 'disconnect' in the discourse of mainstream debates about juvenile justice policy. Proponents tend to focus on restorative justice as a more satisfying process for individual victims, offenders, and their supporters. In contrast, policymakers and juvenile justice administrators, while they may be interested in restorative justice, want to know how restorative justice connects with the larger juvenile justice agenda and with general public concerns about community safety, sanctioning and censuring of crime, fairness, and justice. In particular, Bazemore and McLeod point to the need to strengthen community capacity for informal social control in response to youth crime. Hence, they argue for a restorative justice 'model' or guiding philosophy of intervention that would connect restorative principles and informal social control at the policy level in that arena of juvenile justice generally referred to as diversion. In pursuit of restorative justice at this policy level, they discuss diversion in American juvenile justice, libertarian and interventionist approaches to diversion, informal social control, social support, and a restorative justice approach to diversion.

Leip, Leslie and Bazemore, Gordon. Victim participation in the new juvenile court: tracking judicial attitudes toward restorative justice reforms

Recently, the restorative justice emphasis on repairing harm has helped to link victim involvement to a broader juvenile court mission that includes victims, offenders, and communities as stakeholders in the juvenile justice process. Based on a national survey of juvenile court judges in the United States and qualitative data from focus groups in four States, the authors examined attitudes toward crime victim participation at several levels of the juvenile justice system. The impact of individual experience, organizational environment, and professional ideology on these attitudes was assessed using multivariate analysis to explain differences in support for the focus on victim involvement as one component of restorative justice. Survey findings revealed no clear or uniform consensus among judges about the role of crime victims in juvenile courts and in the juvenile justice process. Implications for the implementation of restorative justice policies and practices and for future research are considered. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

American Judicature Society and American Bar Association. Just Solutions: A Program Guide to Innovative Justice System Improvements.

A manual originally prepared for delegates to the 1994 American Bar Association Law Day conference provides some 75 examples of programs that can be replicated around the U.S. by citizens attempting to ensure a fair and effective system of justice. Program categories include: specialized legal assistance programs, promoting equal access, alternative dispute resolution programs, crime prevention, alternative sentencing, and programs for victims, domestic violence and divorce programs, family court improvements, user-friendly courts, telephone hotlines, public outreach and education programs, school outreach and partnership programs, organizations to improve the courts, and citizen advisory committees.

U.S. Department of Justice. Victims, Judges, and Juvenile Court Reform Through Restorative Justice

The Victims, Judges, and Juvenile Court Reform Through Restorative Justice project was funded by the Office for Victims of Crime with the overall goal of improving the juvenile court response to crime victims. Four focus groups were held during the spring and summer of 1997, bringing together a total of 20 juvenile court judges and 18 crime victims to hear each other's perspectives about problems in juvenile court. In addition, participants engaged in a structured dialogue about the source of the problems and potential solutions, especially those that might be developed in accordance with restorative justice principles.

Bazemore, Gordon. Crime Victims and Restorative Justice in Juvenile Courts: Judges as Obstacle or Leader?

The central role of crime victims in restorative justice creates a number of dilemmas for offender-driven justice agencies. Neither the traditional juvenile justice response to youth crime focused on the "best interests" of the child nor the new retributive emphasis provide a role for crime victims as recipients of service or participants in juvenile justice. Based on the results of focus groups with juvenile court judges and victims of juvenile crime in four states, this paper presents qualitative findings on judicial support and resistance to the idea of the victim as a "client" of juvenile justice and a coparticipant in the justice process. The implications of restorative justice for reform in juvenile courts are also examined.

Preston, William T.. Working with Judges to Affect Change in the Criminal Justice System.

Advocates of a restorative approach are often intimidated by judges. That intimidation can lead them to confront judges with the weaknesses of the traditional criminal justice process, or present restorative justice concepts in language to which it is difficult for judges to relate, or avoid talking to judges at all. These approaches are not effective, and can create barriers that alienate judges from restorative justice, because they are not based in an understanding and appreciation for the roles and responsibilities judges have in our traditional court process. Bruce Kittle, formerly of the Restorative Justice Project at the University of Wisconsin Law School, gives us practical ideas about introducing restorative justice to judges. (excerpt)

McElrea, F W M. Roles of the Community and Government.

Judge McElrea discusses possible activities that judges can undertake in different settings. These include supporting restorative justice interventions. He also discusses State involvement in restorative justice and offers a proposal for community justice centers.

Ghetti, Simona and Mestitz, Anna. What do prosecutors and judges think about victim-offender mediation with juvenile offenders? (What do Italian judges and prosecutors think about victim-offender mediation?)

In Italy VOM has been experimented mainly within the juvenile justice system since the early 90s. Juvenile magistrates (public prosecutors and judges) may dispose for VOM as a part of the criminal proceeding. In our previous research (Mestitz & Ghetti, 2002) we documented that juvenile magistrates were directly involved in the promotion and creation of 6 of the 9 Mediation centres existing in Italy at the time of the research. Considering that juvenile prosecutors and judges are the only professionals who can dispose for mediation, and they seem to have a central role in ensuring the very existence of VOM in Italy, we may expect that in those jurisdictions in which VOM centres exist, mediation is attempted in a sizeable percentage of cases. Instead, when we examined the proportion of juvenile crimes reported to the authorities in the jurisdiction in which VOM centre is available, we found that mediation is attempted in a very small percentage of cases (e.g., 8% in 2000). Thus, we wondered whether despite the initial enthusiasm and/or support, there is now some attitudinal resistance to rely on mediation. (excerpt)

Petterson, Gordon. How to enable prosecutors and judges to make use of RJ practice in their work. The results of the AGIS project on the training of legal practitioners in RJ.

It is clear that in practice the success of mediation programmes in most European countries depends entirely on the co-operation of legal practitioners. This co-operation is important for the selection and referral of suitable cases, for taking into account the results of mediation and for safeguarding the necessary legal rights of the parties Is it possible to develop a short training programme for legal professionals that could have impact on their knowledge, skills and attitudes? Is it possible that a short training programme could help prosecutor and judges start seeing mediation as an option and know how to integrate it into their daily work? (excerpt)

Editor. Interchange: A California judge promotes restorative justice

A judge "falls in love" with restorative justice and victims, youthful offenders and communities in Santa Clara County, California benefit from the results. Author's abstract.

Delattre, Regina. Training for Mediators and a Training Course for Prosecutors and Judges. The Results of an AGIS Project

Reports on four seminars held in Leuven, Belgium, and Trier Germany, between December 2003 and February 2004, involving experienced mediators, trainers, prosecutors and judges from several European countries. Participants exchanged training models, and discussed differences in legal frameworks with a view to development of a training course for prosecutors and judges.

Degelman, Charles. Giving Back: A Community Service-Learning Manual for Youth Courts

As pointed out by Charles Degelman, youth courts are among the fastest growing crime intervention programs in the United States. Youth courts divert minor offenders from overloaded juvenile courts. They hold young offenders accountable for their actions, educate them about the impact of their actions, teach them about the legal system, and provide opportunities for young offenders to develop and practice life and leadership skills. In youth courts, community service is the most popular disposition for young offenders. With all of this in mind, Degelman maintains that youth court administrators, in planning and implementing community service options, can realize the principles of restorative justice at least in part through lessons already learned in America’s schools, where community service has a long and significant place in education. Making a connection between classroom-based study and service to the community is often called service learning. In this manual for youth court administrators, Degelman uses the goals and objectives of balanced and restorative justice as the bridge to apply school-based service-learning methods to community-service dispositions in youth courts.