Search results for category: Community Action The most serious law and order problems in Indian country stem from the use or sale of drugs and alcohol, which often result in high rates of related crimes, including domestic abuse, child abuse and child neglect. Many American Indians do not feel that the current non-tribal court system treats them fairly. Indians receive poor peoples' justice.
For years we've been talking about punishment and retribution. Maybe it's time we started talking about repair. Repair of broken relations. Between and among people. Between and among neighborhoods, faiths, races, religions, countries. Maybe it's time we started asking: "How can we repair what's broken? What skills do we need? If a person is good at repair, what is he or she good at?"
As director for 13 years of the Special Emphasis Victim Assistance Program in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, the Rev. Cordell Hawkins has worked with violent-crime victims' families to help them with the healing process.
Law Minister, H.R. Bhardwaj has a plan to introduce Gram Nyayalayas i.e. the local village courts in order to cope with the increasing backlog of cases and to provide justice to villagers at a cheaper cost.
McDonald's Corporation announced today that it has entered a partnership with its law firm Winston & Strawn LLP designed to enhance its current substantial pro bono program by encouraging participation among personnel across McDonald's legal department.
The current political climate may call for tougher punishments, but the iron-fisted approach isn't the answer, points out Jennifer Llewellyn, a professor with Dalhousie University's law school and co-ordinator of the Nova Scotia Restorative Justice Community-University Research Alliance. "The evidence has shown since the 1970s that it doesn't work," she notes. Though gaining steam, restorative justice still has spotty implementation across the country, Llewellyn says. "It does at least as well as the criminal justice system, if not better."
Divisions between Black Majority congregations and the historic Christian churches in Britain are hindering practical efforts to tackle the issues surrounding young black people's over representation in the criminal justice system says Faith Ayoola, director of Churches' Criminal Justice Forum. "A house divided against itself can not stand", she declared today, adopting a well-known biblical allusion.
"I'd thought that I could handle it myself, but I was wrong. I called the Samaritans in the evening and spoke to a woman who was clearly older than me. I found this comforting. "All I did was to say I needed someone to talk to, then I cried non-stop for about an hour. It was an emotional release after years of keeping everything locked inside me. "Just speaking to someone who didn't judge but understood and let me cry - something I'd tried my hardest not to do - allowed me to feel more in control and grow in self-confidence.
We are privileged to live among such people.We are very impressed with the neighbourliness of this community,and want to say very firmly to those who invaded our home,that their violence and greed are vastly outweighed by the fund of goodness and kindness we have experienced since.
All week the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Queen's University, Belfast, has been hosting a major international conference. Speakers from Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Colombia are addressing ways in which 'bottom up' peacemaking is needed to make peace processes endure... . A number of common themes emerged.
|
RJ Today
Categories:
Community Action (87)
Courts (43)
Crime Prevention (38)
Law Enforcement (56)
Offender Support (76)
Prisons (21)
Public Education (132)
Restorative Systems (93)
Victim Support (130)
|
Copyright 2007-2008 Prison Fellowship International -
Reprint Policy