Restorative
Justice
Clayton Paschke
Ben Manger
Dana Callahan
Matthew George
Three Different Questions (Zehr)
Criminal Justice
What laws have been
broken?
Who did it?
What do they
deserve?
Restorative Justice
Who has been hurt?
What are their needs?
Whose obligations are
these?
Principles of Restorative Justice
1. Crime is a violation of people and
interpersonal relationships
2. Violations create obligations
3. The central obligation is to put right
to wrongs
Restorative Justice Process
 Victim, Offender, and Community ideally meet
 Panel
 Face to face meetings
 Proximity meetings
 Victim/offender conferences
 Family group conferences
 Circles
THE GOAL: Complete a restorative contract that
heals as much harm as possible
History of Restorative Justice
in Vermont
1980s: Beginning of community-
centered movement in VT
1995: Reparative probation
program origins
Role of the VT Department of
Corrections
Vermont Restorative Justice
Now
12 active Community Justice
Centers
72 reparative boards
45 towns
500 + volunteers
Success in Vermont
 Criminals on reparative probation (1998-
2005):
 23% less likely to commit a crime on
probation
 12% less likely to commit a crime
following probation.
 Offender re-entry efforts
 Department of Justice grant
Healing Victims
•TSW Report (2008): Those who process reports of
sexual assault should take a more victim-oriented
approach.
•HRC Report (2006) Recommendation #3:
Train human relations advisers to provide
support to persons who experience
harassment.
Offender Accountability
 Strategic Plan (2006) Recommendation #26:
Encourage a culture of collaboration.
 MC Mission Statement: “We strive […] to cultivate
the intellectual, creative, physical, ethical, and social
qualities essential for leadership in a rapidly changing
global community.”
Community Involvement
 Strategic Plan (2006) Recommendation #27: Cultivate and support
creativity and innovation.
 Strategic Plan (2006) Recommendation #30: “Strengthen internal
communication, and make sure that all constituents within the
Middlebury community feel connected and aware of the matters that
affect them.”
 College Handbook: “Middlebury College recognizes its obligation to
promote the welfare of the College community as a whole.”
Restorative Justice and Higher
Education
 Restorative justice is particularly useful for
colleges and universities:
 Small, Close knit communities
 Sensitive relationships with “outside” towns
and cities
 Different groups with different needs of a
judicial system:
 Faculty, staff, students, community members
Skidmore College
 One of the first successful, truly restorative programs at
a liberal arts college in the United States
 Restorative conferencing approach used in order to
facilitate communication between the offender,
victim and community.
 Goal driven restorative contracts used to “correct the
harm”. Tailored and individual contracts are made in
order to prevent generalized community service that is
meaningless to the offense committed.
University of Colorado, Boulder
 Over 400 instances per year where academic or
community discipline is needed
 Restorative group approach to dealing with
conflict
 Restorative contracts made with administrative,
community, and student input.
 Standardized contracts using pre-established
norms for certain offenses.
 This is a necessity in the larger UC Boulder system