Visit the Centre for Justice and Reconciliation website.
The restorative justice model can be considered, literally, a “paradigm shift.” Imagine you have been asked to develop a restorative justice court within the existing state (felony) court located in your county or misdemeanor court located in your city or county. For the new paradigm you are creating, do the following:
Identify the stakeholders who will participate in the new restorative justice court.
For purposes of this paper, “stakeholders” means an agency, group, job description, etc., not a particular individual you have to name (for example, “Bailiffs”).
For each stakeholder, identify the function he/she/they will perform.
Identify resources outside of the court that will need to interact with the restorative justice court for the program to be successful.
Provide a one-paragraph list of outcomes for offenders that a successful restorative justice court will achieve.
Once you have developed your plan, make an appointment to meet with a judge, court administrator, probation/parole officer, or decision-maker in county or state corrections. Briefly present your proposal (almost as if you are a salesman “selling” that product). Then discuss your proposal with the interviewee.
Keep notes of any objections or roadblocks the interviewee puts up that would indicate the agency is not willing to adopt your proposal at this time.
Your submission should include a two- to three-page description of your plan for a restorative justice court. Your submission should include a one-page summary of the interviewee’s objections and comments, in addition to your plan, in which you list:
The objections
What you would do in real life to close the sale and convince the interviewee to adopt your plan.
