2012-2013 Webinar Series

New webinars will resume in September 2013. Past webinars can be viewed below.

Note: Watching recorded webinars requires the same WebEx software used for the live events. Please see the technical assistance page for more information on installing WebEx software. We are unable to provide any technical assistance beyond what is found on that page. Please consult your own technical assistance resources if you encounter problems.

2013

Guests: Tammy Krause, Kelly Branham and Dick Burr | Watch this webinar now!

What application does restorative justice have in the highly-charged, adversarial context of death penalty cases? Is it possible to do more to engage the families of homicide victims in these cases and in doing so, to help address their needs? What can and should the defense team do in these situations?

In a capital case, victims may receive assistance from victim assistance programs, often associated with the prosecution. However, what they frequently also need is information from the defense as well. In the past two decades a field has emerged that is sometimes called Defense Initiated Victim Outreach (DVO) or Defense Victim Outreach (DVO). DIVO/DVO provides trained victim liaisons to serve as a bridge between victims and the defense team to answer questions, provide information, and generally assist victims to address their needs as they define them.

DIVO/DVO is not usually full restorative justice, but it is informed by restorative justice principles. Although it has been very helpful to many victims, it is challenging, risky and controversial work. In this webinar, three pioneers and leaders in the field will describe the work and some of the possibilities and challenges.

Guests: Tyrone Werts and Barb Toews | Watch this webinar now! | View the powerpoint presentation
See Barb’s Reference list from her chapter on Restorative justice in prisons

Tyrone Werts is a former lifer whose sentence at Graterford prison was commuted in 2011. He has been an RJ advocate since the days he was still in prison. Tyrone is currently working with the public defender’s office and with the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program that allows college students and prisoners to study together.

Barb Toews is a long-time restorative justice practitioner and trainer, now completing her PhD and teaching at Bryn Mawr College and Haverford College.

Guests: Nancy Riestenberg and Rita Alfred

Our apologies, this webinar was mistakenly not recorded, but you can view the powerpoint presentation.

Guest: Sujatha Baliga | Watch this webinar now!

Sujatha Baliga is a lawyer and restorative justice practitioner who facilitated a restorative justice process for a murder covered in The New York Times Magazine. How did this case unfold? What can restorative justice practitioners learn from this pioneering case? What is the relationship between forgiveness and restorative justice? How do we relate to the media on these issues?

2012

Guest: Elaine Zook Barge | Watch this webinar now!

Elaine Zook Barge directs the Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) program at EMU. She has facilitated trauma trainings throughout the United States as well as Mexico, Haiti, the Sudan, Colombia and Myanmar.

Guests: Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz, Howard Zehr | Watch this webinar now! | Slides: Howard’s, Lorraine’s

This webinar is hosted by Carl Stauffer, assistant professor of development and justice studies at EMU. Carl interviews Lorraine and Howard on their experiences with establishing restorative justice programs.

Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz is the restorative justice coordinator for Mennonite Central Committee U.S. She has been involved in restorative justice work since 1984, when she began working in the first Victim Offender Reconciliation Program (VORP) in the United States. Lorraine co-authored Victim Offender Conferencing in Pennsylvania’s Juvenile Justice System and several other books on restorative justice.

Guests: Fred Van Liew, Len Wetherbee | Watch this webinar now!

Guests for this webinar are two seasoned criminal justice professionals who are also long-time restorative justice advocates and practitioners. The webinar will explore possibilities and challenges when applying restorative justice with and within the criminal justice system. Both guests are advocates of collaborative relationships between the system and communities and this will be part of the discussion as well.

Fred Van Liew is an attorney and mediator and the director of the Center for Restorative Justice Practices in Des Moines, Iowa. He is a former criminal and juvenile bureau chief with the Polk County Attorney Office in Des Moines and started the Polk County Attorney Restorative Justice Center in 1994. Leonard Wetherbee is the chief of police at the Moultonborough (N.H.) Police Department. He worked in the Concord (Mass.) Police Dept. for 33 years—17 years as chief of police—and was instrumental in starting Communities for Restorative Justice in Concord, where he continues as an advisor.

Our apologies, but the October 25th webinar – “Restorative justice on college and university campuses” – with guests David Karp and Josh Bacon was mistakenly not recorded.