Comments on: Forget restorative justice

By: 'Peju

'Peju — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:33:47 +0000

Thank you Aaron, and I thank those who have commented…good food for thought.

However, what I do, especially, like about this entry is how it seems, Aaron, you used the catalyst of Osama to discuss some issues that do occur frequently in our world… . Being an advocate of RJ does not mean that we should not engage in or with others with different view points. I appreciate that point and do not think it can be overstated.

You’ll be happy to know that I am continuing the research along peacemaking circles and their relevance to the particular topic we discussed last summer. At a later point, I’ll find you to see if I have addressed the concern you raised about such research.

Hope all is well on your side…peace

By: Eye Tracking

Eye Tracking — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:16:13 +0000

Aron, thanks for sharing your views on this matter. Like previously commented it has been celebrated and happily received in the media. But i cannot help to think to myself, is it really “true” did they actually kill him? Just like with 9/11 conspiracy theories start to spread and documentaries get made. I am just waiting for this documentary to give a second perspective on what actually did happend.

Thanks for sharing your views, had a good read.

By: Gerry Johnstone

Gerry Johnstone — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:54:17 +0000

This strikes me as very interesting. I would like to say, first, that I wholly agree with the observation that ‘restorative justice advocates are often lured by our own passion into a kind of philosophical zealousness’ and with the suggestion that instead that we should ‘stand for a certain type of conversation about justice’. I find this very refreshing.
The discussion of reactions to the killing of Osama Bin Laden is quite interesting in this context. Many adherents to the conventional values of a civilized, rationalized, professionalized, bureaucratized criminal justice would, of course, find such reactions repulsive (they would want to distinguish just retributive punishment from revenge, and wanat a cool, dispassionate administration of just punishment – as something regrettable – rather than a public orgy of joy and celebration).
On the other hand, here and John Braithwaite and Heather Strang writing about restorative justice:
the power of restorative justice may be connected to the fact that it does not subordinate emotion to dispassionate justice … Nor does restorative justice subordinate emotion to rational bureaucratic routines. Space is created in civil society for the free expression of emotions, however irrational they may seem (from page 10 of their book, Restorative justice and Civil Society).
This suggests to me that, for those interested in restorative justice, there is potential for a more complex dialogue with those celebrating the killing of Bin Laden (and indeed with critics of such celebrations).

By: Nathanael Snow

Nathanael Snow — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 23:08:46 +0000

And how shall we enter into conversation with the perpetrators of injustice? Or even with those who may be the unwitting beneficiaries of some bygone injustice? How are we to demonstrate that an injustice even exists? It must be through personal sacrifice. We must voluntarily step in and assume the punishment if the wrongfully accused upon ourselves. We must pay the ransom required by slave owners to free them. We must take the brunt of the whip for innocents.
This much is radical, and beyond the scope of rational self interest, though it might be possible for those motivated by empathy.
Next we become creators of new justice by practicing the same sacrifices on behalf of our enemies.
The former is restorative justice. The later goes beyond and works to create an even better world, but is absolutely impossible without the help of God.

By: Mary Kamo

Mary Kamo — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 06:11:01 +0000

I am a Chaplain in a Womens Prison. After the killing of Osama Bin Laden several women prisoners approached me at different times to comment on the scenes, via the media, of the celebrations of his death.
Without exception they were shocked at how the news of his death was so joyfully publicly received.

This was not to do with the opinions they held on the need to capture him and hold him accountable for the atrocities attributed to him. That they did agree with.

Their dismay was to do with what they saw as a vengeful lack of respect for the intrinsic dignity of a human person by a society that prides itself on being committed to the upholding of that value.

The fact that Osama Bin Laden was not captured and the means of his killing, an apparent summary execution, was also troublesome for them.

These are women who do not excuse themselves for the crimes of which they were convicted. Indeed their sentiments display an innate belief in the basic fairness and justice of the philosophies and practises of western ideology.

They felt let down and disillusioned.

By: Bonnie Price Lofton

Bonnie Price Lofton — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:35:59 +0000

Aaron,

Your thoughts are beautifully articulated and have certainly caused me to think of all the times and ways that I have ended up in a stymied conversation — and thus not a thoughtful, sensitive dialogue — with someone whose views differ widely from mine.

Or, perhaps even more frequently, I simply walk away from the conversation or let it slide into innocuous chit-chat rather than do the hard work of really listening and engaging.

But I can’t help wondering: What DID you end up saying about Osama bin Laden’s killing?