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Announcements

One of the 'moving' highlights of the NACRJ Conference in Denver, Colorado, was a set of dramatic readings put on by Motus Theater. A group of seven people who experienced the harshness of our criminal justice system paired up with professionals in the justice system, jointly reading true life stories written by the 7 participants. Listen to a downloadable audio version of this presentation, and stay tuned for a forthcoming video version.

We now have 18 audio recordings from our Denver Conference!

Also featured during the conference was plenary speaker Adam Foss, a prosecutor from Boston who has also spoken in TED Talk circuits. Christina Swarns presented on "Us" As Victims, Survivors & Offenders: Strategic Advocacy with Restorative Justice Practices.

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Legislative News

On the 30th anniversary of the production of Dennis Maloney’s seminal work, “The Balanced Approach,” the Juvenile and Family Court Journal has now issued a set of articles this spring that revisit the beginnings and spread of what has largely been known, over the years, as BARJ.

Included in this journey is a recent article by co-authors Sandra Pavelka and Douglas Thomas, “Evolution of Balanced and Restorative Justice," which creatively takes the reader through the hypothetical experiences of youth offender Joey who navigates a complex justice system that may or may not include a balanced approach.

Maloney (for whom one the NACRJ award categories is named after), along with other colleagues, came up with the balanced triad of accountability for victims, competencies of offenders, and protection for communities, as a way to encapsulate the thrust of restorative justice as it was unfolding in the 1990s in the realm of criminal justice for youth offenders.

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Announcements

Last spring during NACRJ's strategic planning meeting, the board determined to write a positioning statement on Historical Harm which is now fully posted on our website. A positioning statement helps NACRJ to 'position' itself within the currents of modern society where ideas and trends present new challanges as well as new opportunities. By defining our association with respect to the theme of historical harm, the NACRJ is able to not only express greater sensitivity to communities affected by long-standing harm, but also able to promote new initiatives that specifically address historical harm in powerful, constructive, and humane ways.

As a member-driven organization, we certainly invite your thoughts and comments on this issue as we grow in our understandings and responses to historical harm.

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Now Playing

Recently World Trust Educational Services (an Institutional Member of NACRJ) produced an important video on restorative justice.  It may be of use to you or your organization.  A video trailer can be seen here:

Visit the World Trust Educational Services website to learn more about the video and discuss its availability. 

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Announcements

The Florida Restorative Justice Association held its inaugural statewide conference on September 28th and 29th on the campus of USF-Sarasota. This endeavor was largely funded through a generous mini-grant from NACRJ. The 108 attendees included significant numbers of educators and students, law enforcement and judicial system folks, public administrators at state and local levels, community resource providers (in mediation, trauma informed care, etc) and racial/social justice organizers – from many parts of Florida.

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