A theoretical and practical approach to harm
Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing
Harm and Healing
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 to facilitate healing, build bridges and bring about a more just and inclusive society.
Grounded in the Catholic intellectual tradition and aligned with St. Thomas Law’s social justice mission, the IRJH 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.
What Is Restorative Justice?
Restorative justice is a worldwide movement that seeks to respond to harm in a way that fosters accountability and healing by inviting practitioners to enter the wound of another by accompanying them as they tell their stories.
Responding to a growing demand
Education and Outreach
The IRJH offers a course on Restorative Justice, Law and Healing for upper-level students at St. Thomas Law and facilitates a university-wide working group on restorative practices for faculty, staff and students. We also maintain partnerships in the community and in Catholic dioceses throughout the United States.
Making connections
Events and Programming
The IRJH offers a variety of programming, including conferences, colloquia and webinars on restorative justice and restorative practices. These programs are most often co-sponsored with partners who bring expertise in this area and varying perspectives to each event.
News from the IRJH
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Hearing From and Learning Alongside the Men – Julie Craven
A recent visit to the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater provided students in the law school’s Restorative Justice, Law and Healing course the opportunity to learn about the rehabilitation efforts of a local prison community, and to sit beside convicted men in the Restorative Justice 101 course offered at the facility. Below are reflections about the experience from four law students in the course, which is taught by Father Daniel Griffith. Annika Johnson, 3L I think this is an experience that every law student should have. This class is led by inmates who have been selected by their peers to be a part of the “council.” These students work with Ashley Nelson, who is one of the on-site psychologists at Stillwater, to put together the curriculum and facilitate each class. Inmates must apply and be selected to participate. There were roughly 15 students in attendance the day I was there; all men, one Native American, one Cambodian, two white, and the rest were Black. At the end of the class a few of the students shook my hand and said that they hope I come back to visit. They asked me which “side” (prosecution or defense) I want to be on […]
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Civil Rights Pilgrimage Inspires Interfaith Clergy of Minneapolis to Work for Justice – Daniel Griffith
The week of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, I traveled with 10 faith leaders of Minneapolis on a civil rights pilgrimage to Georgia and Alabama. Our pilgrimage took us from Atlanta, where we attended the Dr. King commemoration, to Birmingham, Selma, Montgomery, and back to Atlanta. I use the word pilgrimage intentionally as this was a sacred journey made in faith. Personally, this was one of the most moving, sobering, and inspiring journeys I have made in my life. I don’t want to speak for my fellow clergy, but given our collective debrief Thursday, this journey was deeply impactful for all – with a range of emotions expressed by our group. There was a videographer who journeyed with us to document our experience. A film of our pilgrimage will be made available soon to our respective faith communities, and three Sunday afternoon sessions are planned later this winter/spring to unpack our experience and the work that lies ahead. It is impossible to convey the essence of our journey in a blog post so what I hope to do is set forth, near the end of the piece, emerging themes which I hope are helpful for people of […]
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Honoring Veterans with Restorative Justice – Hank Shea
Veterans Day will be celebrated throughout the country on Friday, November 11th. For some, it will just be another day at the end of the work week. For others, it will be a paid holiday from their jobs. But we hope for many that it will provide an opportunity to, in some way, honor all American veterans, living or dead, in gratitude for their service and sacrifice on behalf of all of us. There is one group of veterans particularly deserving of our collective attention and action. For as long as veterans have returned from war, some have brought their war home with them, bearing invisible wounds in the form of post-traumatic stress and other traumas. Untreated, these echoes of war – manifesting in substance and alcohol abuse and addiction, often leading to self-destructive and harmful behavior – reverberate through society, destroying not only the lives of these heroes, but victimizing their families and the communities they fought to protect. As a result, large numbers of veterans in past generations have fallen into and been left behind in the criminal justice system upon their return home. Do you know that roughly one-third of U.S. military veterans report that they have […]
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LET US DREAM: The Path to a Better Future – Mary Novak
Mary Novak serves as the Executive Director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice. Mary gave this talk to a gathering of the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests on June 22, 2022. Mary also serves as advisory board chair for the Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing at the University of St. Thomas School of Law. Decenter and Transcend: A Priesthood for the Healing of our Church and World Thank you for the kind introduction Sr. Jackie. I am sincerely grateful for the invitation to join you these days. Thank you to AUSCP’s leadership and all those whose hands came together to organize this gathering. Thank you to Sr. Michelle for the prayers we so needed today. I am honored today to lead NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, founded by Catholic Sisters 50 years ago in the Spirit of Vatican II. NETWORK is an organization that has rarely if ever been accused of suffering from the malady of Holy Spirit Atheism (as Dan framed yesterday). Thank you AUSCP for previously honoring my predecessor, Sr. Simone Campbell, and by so doing, honoring all of the women religious whose legacy of cooperating with the Spirit of Vatican II we at NETWORK […]
Past IRJH Events
Wisdom from the Wound – A Conversation with Victim Survivors & Advocates
The IRJH hosted an insightful conversation with victim-survivors and advocates about the effects of clergy abuse, the ecclesial culture that perpetuated this abuse, and critical steps yet to be taken toward greater institutional integrity.
Meet Our Leadership
The Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing was launched at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in 2021.
Fr. Daniel Griffith
Founding Director
Fr. Griffith serves as the Wenger Family Faculty Fellow of Law. He teaches Catholic Thought, Law and Policy; Jurisprudence; and Restorative Justice, Law and Healing.
Julie Craven
Associate Director
Julie Craven is a former corporate executive. In addition to the IRJH, she supports the restorative justice work in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Hank Shea
Fellow
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Hank Shea is a law professor and a fellow in the Holloran Center. He also teaches at the University of Arizona College of Law.
Amy Levad
Fellow
Amy Levad is an associate professor of theology at St. Thomas. Her work draws upon sacramental and liturgical ethics to argue for social justice and criminal justice reform.
Give to the IRJH
Gifts to the IRJH help to address a growing demand for expertise and education in restorative practices—in communities and for future lawyers and the broader legal community, as they learn how to utilize restorative justice practices within our courts and communities to facilitate healing, build bridges and bring about a more just and inclusive society