Webinars Explore Restorative Justice

The Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion host­ed webi­na­rs on Jan. 25 and Feb. 17, 2021, respec­tive­ly, on how com­mu­ni­ties can use restora­tive jus­tice as a con­struc­tive and more equi­table response when young peo­ple break the law in ways that cause harm. Restora­tive jus­tice pro­vides an effec­tive way to address wrong­do­ing and do right by the peo­ple harmed. It offers oppor­tu­ni­ties out­side of the juve­nile jus­tice sys­tem for young peo­ple to take account­abil­i­ty for harm they have caused. It acknowl­edges that legal pro­ceed­ings can be dif­fi­cult and unpro­duc­tive for those harmed, those respon­si­ble for the harm, their fam­i­lies and oth­er com­mu­ni­ty members.

“Restora­tive jus­tice rep­re­sents a com­plete par­a­digm shift from view­ing harm as a vio­la­tion of the law to under­stand­ing it as a vio­la­tion of peo­ple and rela­tion­ships that requires account­abil­i­ty and heal­ing,” says Ash­lee George, asso­ciate direc­tor of Impact Justice’s Restora­tive Jus­tice Project and a pan­elist for the first of these webi­na­rs. ​“This approach gives all com­mu­ni­ties, espe­cial­ly mar­gin­al­ized ones, a pow­er­ful tool to replace the crim­i­nal­iza­tion of youth of color.”

The Casey Foundation’s webi­na­rs are geared toward youth jus­tice prac­ti­tion­ers, racial jus­tice advo­cates and lead­ers of youth-ori­ent­ed com­mu­ni­ty-based orga­ni­za­tions. The webi­na­rs fea­ture experts from Impact Jus­tice, a Casey grantee and nation­al non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tion that pro­motes restora­tive jus­tice and oth­er solu­tions to pre­vent or min­i­mize jus­tice sys­tem involve­ment, and pro­fes­sion­als in the jus­tice and non­prof­it sec­tors who are imple­ment­ing restora­tive jus­tice as an effec­tive response to wrong­do­ing by young peo­ple in their communities.

The Pre­tri­al Jus­tice Insti­tute — Casey’s JDAI train­ing part­ner — orga­nized the webi­na­rs for JDAIcon­nect.

Address­ing Racial and Eth­nic Dis­par­i­ties That Crim­i­nal­ize Com­mu­ni­ties of Col­or Through Restora­tive Justice

Pan­elists include:

• Sheila Cal­loway, Judge, Juve­nile Court of Met­ro­pol­i­tan Nashville and David­son Coun­ty, Tennessee
• Stephanie Med­ley, Youth Jus­tice Direc­tor, RYSE Youth Cen­ter, Rich­mond, California
• Ash­lee George, Co-Direc­tor, Restora­tive Jus­tice Pro­gram, Impact Justice
• Sia Hen­ry, Senior Pro­gram Spe­cial­ist, Restora­tive Jus­tice Pro­gram, Impact Justice

The Impor­tance of Com­mu­ni­ty-Held Restora­tive Jus­tice Programs

Pan­elists include:

• Venus D. John­son, Chief Assis­tant Dis­trict Attor­ney, Con­tra Cos­ta Coun­ty (Sacra­men­to), California
• Tan­isha ​“Waku­mi” Dou­glas, Co-Founder and Exec­u­tive Direc­tor, S.O.U.L. Sis­ters Lead­er­ship Col­lab­o­ra­tive, Miami
• San­dra Rodriguez, Senior Pro­gram Spe­cial­ist, Restora­tive Jus­tice Pro­gram, Impact Justice
• Eri­ca Wash­ing­ton, Senior Pro­gram Asso­ciate, Restora­tive Jus­tice Pro­gram, Impact Justice