INFORMATION AND RESOURCES
On this web site:
 Restorative or Retributive
Justice? Transforming the US Criminal Justice System by Harmon
Wray, Executive Director of Restorative Justice ministries for
the United Methodist Church, examines current criminal-justice
system trends through the lenses of the restorative justice and
offers direction to those who would like to advocate restorative
justice solutions.
Restorative
Justice Ministries Hosts Final Jurisdictional Event reports
on the January 2000 gathering of United Methodists from the Northeast
Jurisdiction who gained a richer understanding of restorative
justice as ministries with victims, offenders and the community.
In Restorative Justice
- A BETTER WAY, Harmon Wray, executive director of The Office
of Restorative Justice Ministries, introduces restorative justice
as a perspective, a focus from which we can better understand
the realities of crime and punishment as they impact the victim,
the offender, and the community.
New
York State Community of Churches Plans Jubilee 2000 Observance
to Emphasize Restorative Justice and Criminal Justice offers
churches a year-long program of activities which promotes understanding
of and participation in justice issues.
How
to Start a Prison Ministry by Frances Jett provides concrete
help to individuals, congregations, and annual conferences desiring
to develop a good prison ministry.
Restorative
Justice: What is Our Role? by Dr. Glenna Kyker Brayton recounts
the development of a prison ministry started by a group of lay
speakers.
Editor's
Column: Prevenient Justice is a brief, thought-provoking
reflection in our Wesleyan tradition that stretches our understanding
of justice.
On other web sites:
The World Council of Churches, in
focusing on the theme of overcoming violence, has formulated
A Basic Framework for the
Decade to Overcome Violence.
The new JUSTPEACE Center of the United
Methodist Church names a director and elects a president.
Kingsway Prison and Family
Outreach provides a model for ministry to inmates, ex-offenders
and their families.
Center
for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking offers new videos on Restorative Justice.
Ministry
with Prisoner Families by Lia Icaza-Willetts explores the
needs of prisoner families and offers suggestions for ministering
to them.
The
Punishing Decade: Prison and Jail Estimates at the Millennium
by the Justice Policy Institute provides a statistical analysis
of a decade of incarceration and predicts that 2000 will see
2,000,000 men and women serving prison sentences in United States
correctional facilities.
Organizational
Self Assessment, Restorative Justice: How Are We Doing?
This self assessment, created by the Department of Justice,
could be used by groups examining their understanding and/or
implementation of restorative justice principles.
An
Interview with Former Visiting Fellow of National Institute
of Justice, Thomas Quinn clarifies the principles of restorative
justice.
Gender
and Justice: Women, Drugs and Sentencing Policy, a recently
released study by the Sentencing Project, examines the remarkable
surge of women incarcerated for drug offences between 1986 and
1996 as compared to non-drug offences. Incarceration rates are
substantially different from state to state.
IDEAS AND NETWORKS FOR
ADVOCACY
On this web site:
Help Wanted: Prison Labor?
by A. Victoria Hunter, Response, June 1999
As the number of prisons and prisoners in the United States grows, so is the number of inmates
who have found in jail what many could not buy in the free world: a job. But at what price?
Local
Voices Convene on Criminal Justice by Hans Hallundbaek reports
on the conference, "Can Anything Good Come Out of Prison?" held
at the Yorktown United Methodist Church, Yorktown Heights, New
York. This ecumenical gathering exemplifies the potential for
networking.
Lock
'Em Up and Leave 'Em There by Robert Warburton calls for
emotional healing and spiritual growth in our vision of justice
in an article in Christian Social Action, a publication
of the General Board of Church and Society.
On other web sites:
Victims
are too often overlooked in the current criminal justice system.
Here are some sources of insight into the experience of victims:
Rhode
Island Victim Offender Restoration Program
What Every American Should Know About
the Criminal Justice System gives a framework for evaluating
information about the criminal justice sytem.
Balancing
Justice in New York State, a project of the League of Women
Voters of New York State, offers a model for enabling citizens
to work together to define and reconcile their goals for criminal
justice through open community-level dialogue.
CURE: Citizens United for Rehabilitation of
Errrants. This is a non-profit organization whose major purpose is to reduce crime through reform
of the CJS. They are headquartered in Washington, D. C.
Amnesty International
Human Rights Watch is dedicated
to protecting the human rights of people around the world. They
work with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to
uphold political freedom, and to bring offenders to justice. They
investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers
accountable. One of their special initiatives is Prison
Conditions. There is also a report about supermax
prisons (super maximum security confinement) in the United
States.
Crime
Victims Advocacy Council, Inc. ministers to crime victims and their families. It
began in 1989 through the United Methodist Church in North Georgia.
It is now an independent, nonprofit organization. Services include:
crime survivor support groups; crime prevention education programs;
annual memorial service for victims of crime (they will share examples
of their services); crisis intervention information and referral support
groups for stalking victims; advocacy; and assistance in filing compensation
claims.
National Victims
Center
The National Organization for Victim
Assistance (NOVA) is a non-profit organization for victims of
crime: from victims themselves to their advocates in and outside the
criminal justice system who are committed to the recognition and implementation
of victim rights and services. Founded in 1975, NOVA is the oldest
national group of its kind in the worldwide victims movement. Its
mission is to promote rights and services for victims of crime and
crisis anywhere it is needed.
"Viewing Restorative Justice Through Victims’ Eyes” by Susan Herman,
Executive Director, National Center
for Victims of Crime Conference, 1998.
Office for Victims of Crime (OVC): a governmental office advocating for the Fair Treatment of Crime Victims.
This office is a part of the Office of Justice Programs for the U.
S. government. April 2000 publications of high quality: National Survey
of Victim-Offender Mediation Programs in the United States ; Multicultural
Implications of Restorative Justice: Potential Pitfalls and Dangers;
Guidelines for Victim-Sensitive Victim-Offender Mediation: Restorative
Justice Through Dialogue; Family Group Conferencing: Implications
for Crime Victims; Directory of Victim-Offender Mediation Programs
in the United States. They are available by calling 1-800-627-6872.
STORIES AND TESTIMONIES from the Mission
Field of Restorative Justice/Prison Ministries
On this web site:
EXODUS: a Working
Image for Restorative Justice Ministry describes programs
that have transformed the lives of inmates in the New York Correctional
System by offering theological education.
Deaconess Marian Styles-McClintock shares
her experiences of the church in prison ministry in Prison Ministry: the
Church at the Cutting Edge. She challenges local congregations
to make a difference in the lives of men and women when they leave
prison.
Czech
Republic United Methodist Church Shares Faith Through Prison Ministry
offers a global perspective in an account of the ministry of United
Methodists in Pilzen, The Czech Republic.
Testimonies
By Action: United Methodist Women At Work highlights the
ministry of United Methodist Women who have had a long history
of ministry to women in prison.
The
Streets of My Dreams by W. James White, United Methodist
pastor and mission executive, offers a brief account of a moment
in which he was surprised by grace in the pursuit of a larger
goal: peace with justice in Ireland.
Wi'am
Palestinian Conflict Resolution Center describes the work
of a Palestinian Christian in Bethlehem to provide a place where
disputes can be resolved in a blend of arabic and western models
of mediation and reconciliation.
An
Ounce of Prevention describes two places (El Paso, TX, and
Utica, NY.) where alternatives to incarceration are offered
through United Methodist mission institutions.
Faith-based
Effort to Reduce Juvenile Crime is affirmed by a Ford Foundation
program officer in a briefing of GBGM staff in New York.
Los
Duros: Where Youth Can Be Physically Tough and Gang-free
by Rebecca Asedillo describes a program to reach Texas youth
with an alternative to crime and violence.
On other web sites:
Iowa Churches Minister to Those in Chains
describes some of the prison outreach efforts taking place, led
by ministers and lay people alike.
These two devotionals were presented
at the 4th Annual Restorative Justice Conference at Fresno, CA
by Dalton Reimer, Co-director of the Center for Peacemaking and
Conflict Studies. "Visions and Dreams" and "The Value of Persons"
are biblical reflections on aspects of restorative justice. LINKS TO OTHER MINISTRIES that will
build up the community of justice-seekers.
On this web site:
On other web sites:
|
You are here:
Ecumenical
Issues 
