This week offers a substantial double-header telecouncil/webcast schedule as we host Oscar-nominated Documentarian and Author Sebastian Junger, plus dialogue with Matthew Hartman of the Clackamas County Juvenile Restorative Justice Programs.

1. June 18th call with Sebastian Junger Join a live conversation via Tele- or Webcast with Internationally-known Author of The Perfect Storm, Oscar-nominated Documentarian and Director of Which Way Is The Front Line From Here, an HBO Documentary about his close friend and colleague, the late Tim Hetherington. We’ll be talking with Sebastian about the film, Tim’s life and humanitarianism via image-making, the power of the media in truth-telling, and much more.

2. What is Restorative Justice and Why is it fast on the rise? Join your host Molly Rowan Leach (Restorative Justice Fellow to The Peace Alliance & Educational Institute Board Member plus International Dialogue Producer) this Thursday and most weeks for Restorative Justice On The Rise.

Double-Header Week + Great Resources

Special Edition with Sebastian Junger – Which Way Is The Front Line From Here: The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington
TOMORROW: Tuesday, June 18th 10amPST/1pm Eastern
SIGN UP HERE & then Tune in via Telecast -or-  WEBCAST

Sebastian Junger is internationally known for his book The Perfect Storm as  well as War, his account of the year he spent with Tim Hetherington at Outpost Restrepo in Afghanistan, for which Hetherington and he also co-directed Restrepo, a powerful documentary that received wide acclaim and an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary. Tim Hetherington was tragically killed in Misrata, Libya while covering the uprisings of the Arab Spring and the rebellion against Khadafy and his troops.

We are honored to host Sebastian Junger for this special edition of Restorative Justice on The Rise, to discuss the film and the significance of Tim Hetherington’s work and life, and role as a humanitarian and image-maker who brought great light and truths to our common humanity through his work and selfless service.

 IMPORTANT LINKS TO CHECK OUT:

Related to the film and beyond.

HBO Site: Which Way Is The Front Line From Here

Facebook Page 

The Tim Hetherington Foundation

RISC Training: Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues

Sebastian Junger Website

Huffington Post Review of Which Way Is The Front Line From Here by Molly Rowan Leach

Matthew Hartman, Restorative Justice Program Director at the Clackamas County Juvenile Department and Producer, NW Justice Forum
Thursday, June 20th 5pmPST/8pEST
SIGN UP HERE

Matthew Hartman (MA) has extensive experience in organizational development, particularly related to the work of aligning a groups practices with their stated values and purpose.  Working across the US and internationally, Matthew has offered facilitation, consultation and training in restorative justice, conflict transformation, and mediation to non-profit, public and corporate sectors.

Currently, Matthew is the Restorative Justice Coordinator of the Clackamas County Juvenile Department where he is providing in-house consultancy toward aligning the department’s practices with restorative justice values and principles.  Related projects include strategic planning, website enhancement, the development of the Victim Impact Program, and a Victim-Offender Dialogue Program.  In addition, Matthew is also expanding and strengthening the capacity of Clackamas County communities to engage as a meaningful participants in responding to juvenile crime.  Matthew is the Chair of the NW Justice Forum Planning Committee and a Steering Committee member for the Restorative Justice Coalition of Oregon.

Matthew has an undergraduate degree in Sociology and a Masters degree in Conflict Transformation.  Additional areas of expertise include trauma healing; qualitative evaluation; conflict analysis and theory; and strategic peacebuilding.  Matthew’s natural style and ability to put individuals and groups at ease assists all parties in achieving their goals through listening, transformative dialogue and creative problem solving.

For more information about CCJD and its Restorative Justice programs, visit: http://www.clackamas.us/juvenile

ABOUT THE SERIES

Restorative Justice on The Rise was founded by Peace Alliance Board Member Molly Rowan Leach in September of 2011. She is the telecouncil/webcast host. In its 2nd full season the series provides a live dialogue circle for connectivity, education, action ideas and more regarding Restorative justice and the powerful times we are amidst as an old worn-out Prison Industrial Complex dies and punitive paradigms no longer are accepted as appropriate when crime and conflict occur. We also venture beyond the specific justice conversation for special editions with our world’s voices in related fields, including media, academics, the arts, and more.

The telecouncil is a service of our collective part in transformation of our systems, and is for you, the people who matter, day to day, as we mobilize and change our world for the better, together. Thank you for your participation in this series, and please consider helping keep it free by contributing any amount, to The Peace Alliance.

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What is Restorative Justice and Why Is It Fast On The Rise?

A lot of people are asking: What is, in fact, Restorative Justice?   Although Restorative Justice seems like a new thing, it in fact is not. Indigenous peoples, tribal global communities, and many of those considered on the periphery of their respective societies have shown the power of this approach to making right, balancing the scales, when crime or conflict occur.  Here’s also a Huffington Post Article, American Justice: For Profit Prisons or Truth, by Restorative Justice on The Rise Host and RJ Fellow to The Peace Alliance, Molly Rowan Leach.

Considered a leading pioneer in the modern field, Dr. Howard Zehr shares the following:

3 assumptions underlie restorative justice:

• When people and relationships are harmed, needs are created
• The needs created by harms lead to obligations
• The obligation is to (create conditions to possibly) heal and “put right” the harms; this is a just response.

3 principles of restorative justice reflect these assumptions: A just response…

• acknowledges and repairs the harm caused by, and revealed by, wrongdoing (restoration);
• encourages appropriate responsibility for addressing needs and repairing the harm (accountability);
• involves those impacted, including the community, in the resolution (engagement).

3 underlying values provide the foundation:

• Respect
• Responsibility
• Relationship

3 questions are central to restorative justice:

• Who has been hurt?
• What are their needs?
• Who has the obligation to address the needs, to put right the harms, to restore relationships? (As opposed to: What rules were broken? Who did it? What do they deserve?)

3 stakeholder groups should be considered and/or involved:

• First, those who have been harmed, and their families
• Those who have caused harm, and their families
• Community

Restorative Justice has shown high satisfaction rates within existing programs for all involved, and has reduced recidivism significantly while also showing indicators of huge projected-cost savings as it diverts heavy sentencing processes and subsequent incarceration. Not only that, it just makes sense as it provides people involved in crime and conflict the opportunity, if they so wish, to face the issues truthfully, and to require a level of accountability not seen anywhere in the current and past criminal justice systems. It has ‘teeth’ according to Officer Greg Ruprecht of the Longmont Police Department, because it requires that juveniles and adults alike account for their wrongdoings and often decide how to make it right with the inclusion of the victim in that process, when and if the victim is able/interested and feels the sense that their needs and their process comes first (a key principle of Restorative Justice is that the victim’s needs come first, while also acknowledging and keeping as equal the rest of the stakeholders in the process)

You can find a lot more out about Restorative Justice by tuning into our series, Restorative Justice on The Rise, and by accessing our upcoming Podcast and existing archives–a library of over 70 conversations with the world’s pioneers in the field.