This blog post is coauthored by Professors Judith G. McMullen and Mary E. Triggiano.

Early last month, a group from Marquette University Law School began a restorative justice (RJ) circle event at Racine Correctional Institution. One of us (Professor Mary Triggiano, Director of the Andrew Center for Restorative Justice and former Chief Judge of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court) guided the other (Professor Judith McMullen), six law students, eight community members, and 18 incarcerated men through a series of RJ circles over the course of three days. We believe that our community may be interested in this brief account of the experience.

RJ brings people who have harmed others together with people who have been harmed and with community members to promote understanding and healing. RJ practices borrow heavily from methods used by indigenous peoples to solve disputes, mend social relationships, and promote healing. The essence of RJ is “the circle,” where participants sit, whether in chairs or on the floor, in a circle, the facilitator asks a question, and a talking piece is then passed from person to person. Only the person holding the talking piece can speak; no one is allowed to interrupt, and all are asked to practice deep listening and to share stories with an open heart.

A foundational idea of RJ is that when someone commits a harm, there is a ripple effect such that not only the victim of the crime is hurt but so, too, are people in that person’s family and broader community—hence the need in appropriate instances to bring together into the circle survivors of crime, family members, community members, and those who have harmed. RJ challenges participants to see each other’s points of view or experiences, to take ownership of acts they have committed, and to have empathy for each other’s suffering. A tall order, indeed.

On the first day of circles at Racine Correctional Institution, incarcerated men, survivors of violent crimes, and community members took part in various circles, answering queries posed by Triggiano, and listening to each other. This sharing of experience leads circle participants to see each other as fellow human beings with a number of similar needs, fears, and hopes. At one point, the circle was divided into groups to discuss the ripple effect of a hypothetical armed robbery of a mom-and-pop grocery store during which the store owner falls and breaks his hip. Group members quickly identified the harmful effects not only on the unfortunate grocer but also on his family, his employees, his customers, the neighborhood, the first responders, the families of the robbers, and even the robbers themselves. Later, participants would begin to identify the ripple effects of harm they themselves had committed or harms they themselves had suffered.

The second day of the circle centered on the incredibly painful stories of three courageous individuals who had survived violent crimes. Each survivor spoke at length about their life, experiences before, during, and “after” being harmed, and the toll the harm took on them and on their family. Then, each participant in the circle spoke about their reaction to the stories. The near-term impact of these shared stories on the circle participants was almost breathtaking.

Day three focused on healing harms to self and others. As the talking piece was passed around and circle members described the impact of hearing the experiences of survivors, several participants acknowledged that they had not considered the ripple effects of things they had done in the past, but hearing from people who had been harmed by similar crimes stopped them in their tracks and allowed them to own up to what they had done. Listening to the survivors led the men to remember some wrongs that they themselves had experienced and the painful feelings associated with those events. Community participants and survivors came to realize that many of the incarcerated men had themselves survived violent crimes of all sorts. Day three also included a skit designed to lead participants to identify and describe the positive effects of RJ. We divided into five groups, and acted out a skit where several people would try to convince a drug dealer to participate in an RJ circle. Speaking as someone who played the role of drug dealer, Professor McMullen can state from experience that the exercise not only summarized the RJ process and effects but also made everyone walk in someone else’s shoes and look at the world from another perspective.

We were, as one community participant put it, planting seeds of compassion, empathy, understanding, and healing. But we also were able to see tiny sprouts emerge from some of the seeds in the RJ circles. The Law School’s Andrew Center for Restorative Justice is poised to facilitate more circles at Racine Correctional Institution in the future to nurture those sprouts and plant more seeds of hope.

This year’s restorative justice conference was special—not only because a late-winter snowstorm seemed to have no effect on attendance, but also because it was the first annual conference to be hosted by the newly created Andrew Center for Restorative Justice at Marquette University Law School.

The theme for this year’s annual restorative justice conference, under the leadership of Ret. Justice Janine Geske, was Restorative Justice in Indian Country: Speaking the Truth, Instilling Accountability, and Working Toward Healing. With Native American Heritage Month now concluded, the Andrew Center would like to reflect on and draw attention to the continuing importance of our 2023 conference.

As part of this year’s conference, Justice Geske ensured that the wisdom, traditions, and voices of Native Americans would guide the conference organizing and planning. She received important early support from Marquette University’s Council on Native American Affairs. In addition, Jacqueline Schram, Director of Public Affairs and Special Assistant for Native American Affairs in the university’s Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, among others, was instrumental in the conference’s success.

The conference began with a Flag Ceremony by the Mohican Veterans and a Drum Ceremony, as a sign of thanksgiving and welcome. The conference also featured speakers including Shannon Holsey, President of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians, as well as JoAnn B. Jayne, Chief Justice of the Navajo Nation. This year’s conference presented several panel discussions, which included Native American legal experts and educators who spoke and answered questions about harms suffered by Indigenous Peoples in the United States, Indigenous restorative justice practices, and restorative justice within Native American tribal law and the emergence of restorative justice within the U.S. legal system.

Perhaps more importantly, the Andrew Center hoped to encourage reflection about what restorative justice is and is not, and how it ought to be practiced in a way that is respectful to participants and the cultural ancestors of the practice. An excellent guide about restorative justice came from one of the panelists, Mark Denning, a cultural speaker and educator. “What does restorative justice look like?” asked Denning. “Victims are the focus; the harm that occurred is the second focus, and the focus on how to go about repairing that harm,” he answered. Denning also offered a contemplative question, asking: “But what’s the model: restore to what? What was it before harm was done?”

As we at the Andrew Center for Restorative Justice continue to learn more about the Indigenous roots of restorative justice, we also strive for our homepage to be a place where all may come to do the same. And so as Native American Heritage Month draws to a close, we invite you to visit our page, and to watch this year’s annual conference.

ANDREW CENTER CELEBRATES
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE WEEK 2023
A VISIT FROM SOUTH DIVISION HIGH SCHOOL

Marquette Law School Andrew Center for Restorative Justice hosted South Division High School’s restorative justice class to kick-off Restorative Justice Week (November 19 to November 25). Andrew Center Director, Mary Triggiano, and Amanda Coyle, Restorative Practices Coach at Milwaukee Public Schools, collaborated on the day-long event which included a facilitated a restorative justice circle for eighteen high school students. Two 10^th grade students co-facilitated the restorative justice circle discussion with Director Triggiano. Participants from the high school included Dr. Francis Mutonya, Mr. Kenny Griffin, and Mrs. Joanna Rizzotto. Marquette Law restorative justice student, Mary Claire Griffith along with other law students, gave the high schoolers a tour of Marquette Law School Eckstein Hall. Pat Kennelly, Director of the Center for Peacemaking at Marquette University, joined the circle over lunch, describing his Center’s work in community. Stephanie Nikolay, Director of Admissions and Recruitment at Marquette Law School, gave a detailed presentation on law school admissions to the students.

Restorative justice views crime and conflict as harm to people and relationships, which is a different philosophy from the traditional justice system. It is a victim-centered approach that emphasizes the victim’s voice and needs, offender accountability and community engagement. Restorative justice can have transformative and healing potential for participants.

The Andrew Center for Restorative Justice promotes restorative justice to law students and the community. Our restorative justice work acknowledges with gratitude and respect the deep roots restorative justice has in indigenous peacemaking and conflict resolution. Please visit the Andrew Center for Restorative Justice’s webpage for up-to-date information on the Andrew Center and its work. The Andrew Center is planning events for 2024. Please join us!