Indigenous

Indigenous practices focused on repairing harm and rebuilding peace in communities have been revived by some indigenous communities and adapted for use in the court systems.

. Process and Outcome Evaluations in Four Tribal Wellness Courts.

The four tribal drug courts are the Blackfeet Alternative Court (Montana), the Fort Peck Community Wellness Court (Montana), the Hualapai Wellness Court (Arizona), and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians Drug Court (Alabama). The evaluations found that each court had many strengths and success stories. Success was documented as a “slowing down” of alcohol and drug use in adult participants; however, graduates were as likely to reoffend as nongraduates, and participants as a whole had a relatively high 3-year recidivism rate that ranged from 50-64 percent in the adult courts and over 90 percent in the juvenile courts. For the adult program, graduates took longer to reoffend than nongraduates, and participants had fewer postprogram charges compared to their preprogram criminal histories. Juvenile graduates as a whole, on the other hand, showed no differences in recidivism patterns between graduates and those who did not complete the court program. Three of the four courts ceased operation when Federal funding ended. Primary reasons for failure to institutionalize the three courts were high staff turnover (especially judges) and lack of commitment to the courts from the community and tribal council. The evaluations’ goals were to obtain input from the tribes; to use a mixed methodology in which qualitative perspectives from interviews provided context to quantitative results; to describe program development and compare it with planned implementation; and to determine the courts’ impact on the behavioral patterns of participants, particularly regarding recidivism. (Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Service, www.ncjrs.gov).

. Response, responsibility, and renewal: Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Journey.

This is the second installment in a two-volume set produced by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. This volume contains personal reflections on the opportunities and challenges posed by the truth and reconciliation process, which was constituted in the 2006 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, to aid in the deliberation of work facing Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. (excerpt)

Aboriginal Justice Advisory Council. Circle Sentencing: Involving Aboriginal Communities in the Sentencing Process

Circle sentencing or circle courts arose in Canada in the early 1992 out of a decision from the Supreme Court of the Yukon in the case of R v Moses. In that case the presiding judge, Judge Stuart, advocated a significant change in the Canadian sentencing process. Judge Stuart was of the opinion that a significant and immediate improvement could be achieved within the judicial system by increasing meaningful community involvement in the sentencing process, before during and after the sentencing takes place. In attempting to implement this Judge Stuart consulted the local Indian community and the concept of circle courts was developed. Circle courts were adopted by a number of more traditionally oriented first nations people in Canada, but have subsequently been adopted in Canadian urban settings and are also now used in the United States. (excerpt)

Bargen, J. Critical View of Conferencing

A critique of two new criminal justice initiatives, sentencing circles in Canada and family group conferences in Australia, is presented. Sentencing circles in Canada involve a process whereby community members recommend the sentence in cases involving other members of the same community. Family group conferences in Australia allow persons directly affected by crime to actively participate in dealing with the consequences of crime. Both collective and individual accountability for offending behavior. Both initiatives are evaluated in terms of their implications for aboriginal and indigenous communities.

Baskin, Cyndy. Holistic Healing and Accountability: Indigenous Restorative Justice

Writing from an Aboriginal perspective in Canada, Cyndy Baskin draws certain fundamental contrasts between Western-European and Aboriginal approaches to understanding and dealing with wrongdoing. For example, a Western-European approach, as seen in the dominant society and its criminal justice system in Canada, focuses on the offender and his or her individual responsibility for wrongdoing, and emphasizes punishment of the offender as the most appropriate response. An Aboriginal approach emphasizes a collective responsibility for dealing with wrongdoing and seeks healing to restore peace and balance among the community, offender, and victim. In this framework, Baskin discusses her work with Aboriginal sexual offenders using culture-based restorative justice aims and processes, such as circles.

Buller, Ed. Aboriginal Community Healing Processes In Canada.

Issues of abuse within families and particularly Aboriginal families have been brought to the surface in Canada over the last decade. In response, a growing number of Aboriginal communities are developing holistic models of treatment for Aboriginal victims, offenders, families and the community as a whole. The approach taken is one that addresses the root causes of criminal activity and proactively engages offenders, victims and families to break the cycle of abuse. These initiatives work within the current criminal justice system while bringing a unique alternative to imprisonment that can lead to stronger and safer communities. Communities engaged in these healing approaches have seen benefits in terms of significantly reduced criminal activity and several other social benefits. There is not one universally recognized definition of community healing. Some have described healing as being “about collective approaches to change that enhance Aboriginal cultural identity. It is about family and community crisis intervention, integrated human services, political cooperation and public participation in processes of planned change and institution building.”i The Four Worlds Centre for Development Education concludes that healing “ may therefore be strategically described as a process of removing barriers and building the capacity of people and communities to address the determinants of health.(excerpt)

Costello, Nancy A.. "Walking Together in a Good Way: Indian Peacemaker Courts in Michigan"

The Peacemaker Court, established by the Grand Traverse Band in 1996, allows disputes that would otherwise be handled by judges and attorneys to be settled by tribal members who simply "talk things out" with the help of a peacemaker. The ultimate goal of the peacemaking process is to heal the minds, spirits, physical beings, and emotions of all parties involved, including the wrongdoer, the victim, and their families. By so doing, the harmony of the tribal community is restored. (excerpt)

Cunliffe, Emma and Cameron, Angela. Writing the Circle: Judicially Convened Sentencing Circles and the Textual Organization of Criminal Justice.

Trial court judges who work in remote northern Canadian Aboriginal communities use judicially convened sentencing circles to gather information and develop sentencing recommendations in some intimate violence cases. Proponents claim that judicially convened sentencing circles are a restorative justice practice that heals the offender, his community, and the survivor of the violence. Proponents also look to sentencing circles as a tool to fmd a just outcome that minimizes Aboriginal men's incarceration. We use a methodology developed by feminist sociologist Dorothy Smith to consider whether the institutional priorities being established and approved by courts in sentencing circle cases provide adequate protection for Aboriginal women against recurrent intimate violence in their communities. Finding that Aboriginal women's experiences of violence are largely excluded from the realm of institutional concern, we suggest that judicially convened sentencing circles present a deceptively simple solution to the complex and longstanding problem of Aboriginal people's experiences with the Canadian criminal justice system. It is therefore important to counter the discourses that claim that judicially convened sentencing circles have the potential to restore Aboriginal communities. This article counters that discourse in two ways: first, by identifying that Aboriginal women's experiences and knowledge are being excluded from the judicial construction of Aboriginal communities in these cases; and, second, by reasserting that any solution to the problem of intimate violence must be part of a broader effort to overcome poverty and the legacy of colonialism within Aboriginal communities. (author's abstract)

Deane, Lawrence and Morrissette, Larry and Bracken, Denis C. and Deane, Lawrence. Desistance Within an Urban Aboriginal Gang.

The research presented in this paper is related to an ongoing program in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada involving members of an urban Aboriginal street gang. Gang members recently released from prison have for a variety of reasons become interested in leaving behind the criminal part of their gang involvement, and developing lifestyles less likely to bring them into conflict with the law. For the men in this study, desistance from crime did not necessarily mean a departure from the gang itself. Rather, they see themselves as having taken a conscious decision not to be involved in criminal activity, but not to leave the gang. The scheme works with them on learning carpentry skills as part of an urban housing renovation project. A major part of the program is the encouragement of prosocial values through traditional Aboriginal cultural teachings. Use of the ‘gang’ ethic builds teamwork and commitment not to reoffend among members. (author's abstract)

Dutil, Jean-L.. "Restorative Practices Seen by the Court"

Quebec, Canada, Dutil discusses a number of principles and practices in Aboriginal communities in Quebec – principles and practices blending Aboriginal patterns and Euro-Canadian criminal justice. Using examples from actual incidents of crime, he refers in particular to sentencing circles and their similarity to traditional Aboriginal responses to wrongdoing (those traditional responses being based on Aboriginal values and philosophy).

Eagle, Harley. Restorative Justice in Native Cultures

Harley Eagle is of Dakota and Saulteaux ancestry. He lives on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota among his Oglala Lakota relatives. From this indigenous perspective, and from his experiences in community work on the reservation, he writes about restorative justice in native cultures. After rehearsing some of the history of conflict between native peoples and Euro-Americans in North America and its harmful effects on native peoples, he states that it is necessary to keep in mind this historical context when practitioners engage in restorative justice work within indigenous communities. When dealing with present conflicts between people and in communities on reservations, the historical context means the conflicts often actually have a long history of family disputes that have never been healed. People involved in the conflict have forgotten traditional values, customs, and practices for dealing with conflict. Restorative approaches tap can into traditional ways, encourage native peoples, and lead to constructive results for individuals, relationships, and communities on the reservations.

First Nations Court opens in North Vancouver

from the article by Todd Coyne in the North Shore Outlook: The judge is out of her usual judging clothes and the court sheriff wears no gun. It’s not immediately apparent — not at first — if these are just oversights, but when Judge Joanne Challenger turns from the convicted man to the packed public gallery and asks for any suggestions on sentencing and the hands go up, it becomes clear: First Nations Court is different. It began in North Vancouver in February, modeled on a similar program in New Westminster that allows anyone who identifies as aboriginal and has been convicted of a crime in provincial court to have their sentence decided in a court that gives special heed to First Nations history.

For the love of the Amish: Japanese can’t get enough of the Plain-sect culture

 

Gottlieb, Karen. Lessons Learned in Implementing the First Four Tribal Wellness Courts.

The "lessons learned" presented in this paper were drawn from the experiences of the first four tribal wellness courts (drug courts): Hualapai (Arizona), the Blackfeet (Montana), Fort Peck reservation (Montana), Poarch Creek (Alabama). Although these tribal drug courts had distinctive experiences in planning and implementing court procedures and programs, they exhibited a similar pattern of strengths and weaknesses. The intent of identifying lessons learned from these court programs is that other tribes learn from their experiences and avoid the same mistakes. The first of 10 lessons discussed is to develop a strong structure for the court team. The responsibility of the team is to integrate the members’ skills and backgrounds in achieving a holistic approach to treating court participants who have substance abuse problems. The team should be composed of representatives from across the reservation, including tribal elders and others who embody traditional tribal values. The second lesson is to use the informed consent model for admittance to the court program, which involves the selection of referral points and the use of legal procedures that protect the individual’s due-process rights. The third lesson is to assess readiness for change in potential participants through legal and clinical screening for eligibility. A fourth lesson is to integrate culture, not religion, into the court, which involves providing access to holistic, structured, and phased substance abuse treatment services that incorporate culture and tradition. Other lessons discussed involve monitoring participants during times when illegal acts are likely to occur; rewarding positive behaviors; choosing a judge who can be both a leader and a team player; collecting automated court information systematically from the beginning of the court; developing a written curriculum for court staff; and emphasizing early outreach within the community. (Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.gov).

Gottlieb, Karen. Process and Outcome Evaluations of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians Drug Court.

This report presents the methodology, findings, and recommendations of an evaluation of the drug court of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, located in southwestern Alabama near the Florida border. The outcome component of the evaluation found no statistically significant relationship between completion status and recidivism; graduates were as likely to reoffend as the terminated participants; however, graduates were slower to reoffend than terminated participants. Although the pre-drug court recidivism rate of participants is not known, the recidivism rate of 50 percent after 3 years for those no longer in the program indicates that not all participants reoffended. The positive changes - increases in self-esteem and decreases in substance abuse behavior - seen in many of the participants indicates successful rehabilitation was achieved for some. The drug court’s strengths were determined to outweigh the weaknesses. Strengths included a core team with stability, compassion, and commitment to the program; the integration of a cultural program with the drug court; treatment incorporated as a structure in participants’ lives; intensive monitoring during the first phase; and the combining of the roles of counselor and probation officer. Improvement in the court could be achieved by integrating treatment with a steering committee that would include tribal and community leaders. This would extend the ownership of the court to the community. Some program weaknesses were poor communication between treatment providers and the team; irregular scheduling of staff meetings; the absence of tribal leaders or elders on the team; lack of enforcement of program requirements; and no individualized, is currently a mature drug court. At the time of the evaluation (2005), it had admitted 28 participants with alcohol and drug-related offenses. Fifteen of the participants graduated, 8 were terminated, and 5 were current participants. (abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.gov).

Grant, Diana R. and Paul, Richard C. and Meyer, Jon'a F.. Peacekeepers turned peacemakers: police as mediators.

We discuss the potential of law enforcement officers to function as mediators in everyday disputes encountered in the field. Examples are drawn from mediation and peacemaking occurring in a variety of contexts, focusing on a description of the Navajo peacemaking program currently in operation, using interviews with Navajo law enforcement professionals who discuss the benefits of officers serving as mediators/peacemakers in the field. Peacemaking is a community-oriented policing tool with the potential to reduce crime and simultaneously improve public perceptions of the police. By enabling citizens and victims to solve their own problems, the police can earn the respect of the communities they serve. Programs such as those discussed here represent a way for police to transform themselves from officials primarily concerned with keeping the peace to those making it. (author's abstract)

Gray, Barbara and Lauderdale, Pat. The Web of Justice. Restorative Justice Has Presented Only Part of the Story.

In this paper, we suggest that one can view American Indian justice historically as a multidimensional web that contains preventative as well as restorative mechanisms that together function to maintain justice, at least justice as fairness. Today, implementation of many crime - reduction programs within Indian country focuses primarily on the restorative aspects of justice. However, restorative justice, which usually is set within imposed Eurocentric - driven judicial systems, is only part of the solution to creating and/or fostering justice within American Indian communities. The time may have come to rediscover and implement the preventative mechanism, as well as the restorative, so that the web of justice can be restored and true healing may take place. (excerpt)

Gulati, Shruti Gola. Healing the Circle: Exploring the Conjuncture of Peacemaking Criminology and Native Justice Initiatives

Peacemaking criminology is a non-violent movement against oppression, social injustice and violence as found within criminology, criminal justice and Society in general. Richard Quinney proposes that crime and the criminal justice process are characterized by suffering to victims, offenders and society and that crime and justice problems may be eliminated or reduced by healing the suffering which makes them a possibility. A strategy of compassion and service is therefore advocated to affect suffering and thus crime. Peacemaking criminologists recognize the dialectical relationship between the individual and society, each shaping and being shaped by the other. It is therefore important that individuals achieve a measure of peace within themselves in order to move society in the direction of peace. To this end, peacemaking criminologists advocate spiritual practice, respect for the sacred and love as tools with which one may develop the discrimination to recognize injustice and the desire and ability to end suffering. This thesis discusses the peacemaking potential of Native justice initiatives within the context of Canadian criminal justice. Like peacemaking which rose as a revitalization of peace and non-violence within criminology and its concerns, Native justice initiatives can be viewed as a revitalization movement which has risen in response to the injustice of the criminal process for Native people. By offering alternatives to criminal justice or healing approaches within the structure of the conventional criminal process, Native justice initiatives seek to provide healing and restoration and a meaningful delivery of justice to Native people in conflict with the law. The peacemaking potential of such alternatives lies in the observation that the current euro-based structure of criminal justice is foreign to the traditional spiritual and social understanding of Native people. Author's abstract.

Haarala, Lloyd. A Community Within

A member and elder of the Anishinaabe of N.W. Angle Band #33, Lake of the Woods, Ontario, Lloyd Haarala is also the native spiritual advisor at William Head Institution, a correctional facility in British Columbia. He tells in this article of a recent Spring Fasting opportunity at William Head Institution. A former inmate nearing the end of his Warrant Expiry Date asked and received permission to live in the facility for the week of fasting to help current inmates. Haarala explains how this exemplifies the value held among First Nations’ people of giving back to their communities. This emphasis on community, also found in restorative justice, is as much a matter of the heart as the head, says Haarala. Further, restorative justice as the importance of family and community should be the norm for society in general, not only when crime or wrongdoing occur.

Hanna, Darwin. Revitalizing Aboriginal Control over Justice

A lawyer since the mid 1990s, Darwin Hannah has considerable experience with legal matters in relation to aboriginal communities in Canada. Hanna’s conclusion – supported by the experiences of colleagues and a review of relevant literature – is that aboriginal justice principles are not significantly used within the Canadian justice system to address criminal justice issues relating to aboriginal people and communities. Many studies, reports, commissions, and inquiries have recommended that such principles be used to resolve conflict in aboriginal communities. Yet this has not occurred to any significant degree. In this context, Hanna explores both the use of aboriginal justice beliefs to restore balance in aboriginal communities and the issues and challenges of applying aboriginal justice principles within the current system.