Restorative justice emphasizes repairing the harm caused by criminal and dangerous behavior and often involves multiple institutional and individual stakeholders working cooperatively. In many areas, it has substantially reduced repeat offending and lessened crime victim’s post-traumatic stress symptoms. Both offenders and victims express greater satisfaction that justice has been done, as compared to traditional criminal justice. This workshop will discuss contemporary forms of restorative justice. It will present experiences from New York Peace Institute’s Restorative Justice Program and a new pilot project at the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Brooklyn, which apply restorative justice in cases of vehicular driving offenses. Experts will discuss the role of criminal cases and civil court suits as means to establish driver accountability and to introduce forms of justice for victims of traffic violence.
