Restorative Justice:  Revised Syllabus (2.1)

Professor Tom Russell

trussell@fss.uwi.tt

tel:  662-7195

Course Readings:

Required:

                   Purchase this book at the bookstore:

Daniel W. Van Ness and Karen Heetderks Strong. (2002). Restoring Justice 2d ed. (Anderson, 2002.)

Assignments:

The course will meet 11 times on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings from 5 to 8 pm and on Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm.  The first meeting of the course will be on Wednesday, 26 November 2003.  (There will be no class on Tuesday, 25 November 2003 in recognition of Eid el-Fitr and the end of Ramadan.

Class 1.  Introduction of course, lecturer, and students.  (Wed., 26 November)

During this class meeting, Professor Russell will introduce the goals of the course and each student will introduce him/herself.  There is no reading assignment for this first class.

Class 2.  Sense and Nonsense about Crime.  (Fri., 28 November)

Read and prepare to discuss Walker, Sense and Nonsense about Crime and Drugs.  We will discuss the processing of criminal cases through the system of criminal justice.  Prepare to discuss the applicability of Walker's model to Trinidad and Tobago.  We will also discuss, more generally, the current crime situation in Trinidad and Tobago.  Expect a lively conversation! 

Student Presentations:  Lianne Chang Lee-Kim, McDonald Jacob, Ann-Marie Elbourne-County, and Carl Mattis.

Class 3.  Crime Stories and Introduction to Restorative Justice (Sat., 29 November)

This meeting will continue the discussion from the previous night’s class.  There is no additional reading for this class.  We’ll share personal stories about crime in Trinidad.  How has crime affected you?  After exhausting ourselves with this topic, we will watch a video produced by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) called “Restoring Justice.”

Class 4.   The Vision and Values of Restorative Justice.  (Tues., 2 December)

Read and prepare to discuss Van Ness and Strong, Restoring Justice, 2d ed., pp. 1-151. 

Student Presentations:  Street Theatre, Acting, and Restorative Justice by Louris Lee-Sing, Wayne Lee-Sing, Ellen O’Malley Camps.

Class 5.   Restorative Justice in Schools.  (Wed., 3 December)

Does Restorative Justice offer a partial solution to the problem of violence and indiscipline in Trinidad's schools?  Video, "Restorative Justice at Boulder High."

Read and prepare to discuss Cameron and Thorsbone, "Restorative Justice and School Discipline:  Mutually Exclusive"; and Haft, "More than Zero:  The Cost of Zero Tolerance and the Case for Restorative Justice in Schools."

Student Presentations:  Restorative Justice and Trinidad and Tobago’s schools. 

Kenneth Niles, Lana Charles, Perry Paul, Andrew John, Marian Graham, Marilyn Hinkson (would like volunteers to move to other weeks, if possible)

Class 6.  Objections and Planning.  (Fri., 5 December)

Read and prepare to discuss Van Ness and Strong, Restoring Justice, 2d ed., pp. 155-272.  Think carefully about the objections to or problems with Restorative Justice.  What are the obstacles to Restorative Justice in Trinidad and Tobago.  How might you plan to implement restorative practices?  Where would you start? 

Part 2:  Pre-conferencing exercise.  All students participate.

Class 7.  Mock Restorative Justice Conference #1 and Debrief.  (Sat., 6 December)

Professor Russell will facilitate the first mock conference. 

Natalie Robinson, Rosette Packette, Kirk Pitt, Marilyn Hinkson, Earl Charles, and Charles Sabga,

Class 8.  Spiritual and Religious roots of Restorative Justice /  Domestic Violence. (Tues., 9 December)

Part1:  Religion motivates many practitioners of Restorative Justice.  Read and prepare to discuss, Hadley, "The Spiritual Roots of Restorative Justice"; Allard and Northey, "Christianity:  The Rediscovery of Restorative Justice"; and Neufeldt, "Justice in Hinduism."

Student Presentations: 

Khalil Saif and Fariza Shaama-Seecharan, Islam and Restorative Justice.

Ronald Ramcharan, “Christianity and Restorative Justice”

Savitri Balkaran,”Hinduism and Restorative Justice.”

Part 2:  Domestic Violence

Does Restorative Justice have anything to offer?  Read and prepare to discuss:  Lazarus-Black, "Law and the Pragmatics of Inclusion:  Governing Domestic Violence in Trinidad and Tobago," Goel, "No Women at the Center:  The Use of the Canadian Sentencing Circle in Domestic Violence Cases"; and Sherman, "Domestic Violence and Restorative Justice:  Answering Key Questions." 

Student Presentations

Adrianna Archer, Kenrick Edwards, Joann Baptiste.  

Class 9.  Mock Restorative Justice Conference #2 and Debrief.  (Wed., 10 December)

Catherine Ali, Darrell Jagmohan, Carl Mattis, Khalil Saif, Nadine Spencer, Augustus Harrilal, Charmaine Thomas.

Class 10.  Murder and Prisons.  (Fri., 12 December)

Video (in class), "Meeting with a Killer," and "My Mother's Killer."  See:  Concentric Journeys.

Can Restorative Justice be brought within prisons?  Read and prepare to discuss:  Braswell et al., Corrections, Peacemaking, and Restorative Justice.  Visit Prison Fellowship International.  Additional readings TBA.

Students

Deopersad Ramontar, Augustus Francis, Rajkumar Ramroop, Earl Charles. 

Class 11.  Mock Restorative Justice Conference #3  (Sat., 13 December)

Avril Yearwood Valley, Arlene J. Valère, Johnnie Duncan, Other volunteers?

Followup:  Should Trinidad and Tobago adopt Restorative Justice as an approach to crime?

Optional Reading: 

Martin, "Deschutes County, Oregon:  Community Justice in Action."

Karp, "The Offender/Community Encounter."

Zellerer and Cannon, "Restorative Justice, Reparation, and the Southside Project."

Russell, "Between Town and Gown:  The Rise and Fall of Restorative Justice on Boulder's University Hill."

Gordon Bazemore and Mara Schiff. (2001). Restorative Community Justice: Repairing Harm and Transforming Communities. Anderson, 2001.

Excerpts from John Braithwaite, Restorative Justice and Responsive Regulation, (2002).

Strang, Heather and Braithwaite, John (2000)  Restorative Justice:  From Theory to Practice.  Aldershot:  Ashgate.

Galaway, B. and Hudson, J. (1996) Restorative Justice:  International Perspectives. Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press.

Nelsen, J. (1996) Positive Discipline. 2nd edition.  New York:  Ballantine Books.

Messmer, H. and Otto, H-U. (1992)  Restorative Justice on Trial. Netherlands:  Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Sherman, Lawrence W., Strange, H. and Woods, D.J. (2000) Recidivism Patterns in the Canberra Reintegrative Shaming Experiments (RISE), Centre for Restorative Justice

Brooks, R.L. (1999) When Sorry Isn’t Enough. New York:  New York University Press.