Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing (IRJH)
The Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing (IRJH) was launched in 2021 to teach law students, and the broader legal community, how to utilize restorative justice practices within our courts and communities in order to facilitate healing, build bridges and bring about a more just and inclusive society.
What is Restorative Justice?
Restorative justice is a worldwide movement that seeks to respond to harm in a way that fosters accountability and healing. These practices are used successfully in a variety of settings and professions, including education and law. Restorative justice invites practitioners to enter the wound of another by accompanying them as they tell their stories. Restorative justice finds an able and potent partner when grounded in and informed by the Catholic intellectual tradition.
Using the Law to Build Bridges and Facilitate Healing
The reality of racial injustice, polarization, and attendant harm from unjust social structures abounds in society. Harm has also been perpetrated upon victim-survivors and the broader Catholic Church as a result of abuse, clericalism, and ecclesial leadership failures. Law, its practitioners, and law schools hold considerable potential to bring about a more just and inclusive society by using law and legal education to build bridges, restore justice, and facilitate healing.
The objective is to name and heal the harm, focusing on these three areas:
- racial justice;
- institutional/leadership failures; and
- societal polarization
The IRJH is grounded in biblical justice and Catholic social teaching.
Educating Law Students and the Legal Community
The IRJH, grounded in the Catholic intellectual tradition and aligned to St. Thomas Law’s social justice mission, is committed to educating law students and the legal community about restorative justice and providing them with tools they can use as an alternative or complement to traditional punitive systems.
Specific to St. Thomas, the IRJH offers a course on Restorative Justice for upper-level students in the School of Law titled Restorative Justice, Law and Healing. We are creating a university-wide working group on restorative practices for interested faculty.
For St. Thomas students and the larger community, the IRJH will offer a variety of programming, including a restorative justice clinic for law students, conferences on restorative justice, colloquia and webinars on restorative justice and restorative practices.
Educating Law Students and the Legal Community
The IRJH, grounded in the Catholic intellectual tradition and aligned to St. Thomas Law’s social justice mission, is committed to educating law students and the legal community about restorative justice and providing them with tools they can use as an alternative or complement to traditional punitive systems.
Specific to St. Thomas, the IRJH offers a course for upper level students in the School of Law titled, "Restorative Justice, Law and Healing" and is creating a university-wide working group on restorative practices for interested faculty.
For St. Thomas students and the larger community, the IRJH will offer a variety of programming, including: a restorative justice clinic for law students, conferences on restorative justice, colloquia and webinars on restorative justice and restorative practices.
Restorative Justice and Healing
Restorative Justice articles and papers
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Healing the Harm - The Effectiveness of Restorative Justice - UST Law Journal
Catholic Teaching and the Death of George Floyd
Restorative Justice Heals at the Heart of Hurt
Conference applies restorative justice principles to clerical abuse crisis
Archbishop Hebda, Ramsey County attorney share panel on restorative justice
St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese taps restorative justice to heal impact of sex abuse
Letter from Pope Francis to priests on the Feast of St. John Vianney
Where do we go from here? Restorative Justice, a path to healing
Can restorative justice help the church heal from sex abuse scandals?
Ramsey County Attorney joins parishioners at restorative justice session
Survivors, lay leaders help archdiocese hear victims, assist in healing
At Holy Hour, archbishop say Church is holding out 'withered hand' to be healed
Parishes explore healing circles potential for restorative justice
Student reflection papers and book reviews
- My Grandmother's Hands - Jesse Addo '22
- Grace from the Rubble - Emma Shrum '22
- Reflection paper - Morgan Twamley '22
- Reflection paper - Megan Massie '22
- Reflection paper - Brandon Mickelsen '22
- Reflection paper - Lauren Gunderson '22