Webinar: Restorative Justice in Action

Our criminal justice and corrections system is not working well. Prisons and jails are overcrowded and filled with a disproportionate number of people of color and the rate of return of those who are incarcerated is one of the highest in the world. According to the Harvard Political Review, more than 75 percent of those released are rearrested within five years. So why not try a different approach?

This webinar continues the National Benevolent Association’s promotion of the biblically-based principles of restorative justice as an alternative. It features three people who have participated in restorative justice practices.

Restorative Justice Explained with Rev. Dean Bucalos

Webinar: Restorative Justice in Action

Webinar Panelists

Jonathan Scharrer is the Director of the Restorative Justice Project at the University of Wisconsin Law School. He has extensive experience as a facilitator of restorative justice dialogues in sensitive and violent crimes and as a trainer in a variety of restorative justice practices. Jonathan is active in examining criminal justice policy and legislation–with a focus on victim empowerment and addressing racial disparities in the criminal legal system–and has helped design and implement multiple restorative justice diversion programs and restorative responses to crime and harm.

At 16 years old, Craig Sussek shot and seriously injured a woman, landing him in prison for 25 years. In 1997 he had the opportunity to meet the person he harmed and it changed his life forever. Now 43, he is a returning citizen who advocates for restorative justice practices because he’s experienced firsthand how life-altering they can be.

Rev. Nora Jacob, ordained in the DOC, serves on the staff at Covina (CA) Community Church, UCC, as its Minister of Reconciliation and Coordinator of Prison Outreach. She has been a restorative justice practitioner, trainer, and educator since 2014, facilitating victim-offender education classes regularly inside a men’s prison in California. She also has almost a decade of experience facilitating listening circles and restorative conferences in Pomona, CA, where she currently works as Restorative Justice + Care Supervisor for the nonprofit Just Us 4 Youth.

Angel Wendt is an elementary teacher passionate about social responsibility and emotional growth. Her passion focuses not only on educating the young but also on those who need a second chance. She has spent a substantial part of the last ten years working with individuals in different capacities to spread awareness of their decisions’ impact on others.