The Restorative Justice Project focuses on victim-initiated communication involving felony offenders and their victims, in conjunction with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections' Office of Victim Services and Programs. Students work with victims and offenders to prepare for meetings, and then facilitate in-person meetings, which usually take place in Wisconsin prisons, or other forms of contact.
In the Restorative Justice Project, students have an opportunity to work outside of the adversarial processes which characterize most of the criminal justice system. This project attempts to involve crime victims more fully in the system by providing the opportunity for communication, often face-to-face meetings, between the victims of crime and those who have offended against them or one of their family members. Students also have the opportunity to practice mediation skills and to assess the effectiveness of an alternative dispute resolution process in the criminal justice field, including through Victim-Offender Conferencing. More information on the Restorative Justice Project, and on the restorative justice movement generally, is provided via the links listed below.
Because of the complexity and duration of many victim-offender conferencing cases, the Restorative Justice Project requires a two- or three-semester commitment.
Students beginning during the summer session begin their participation at the beginning of the intersession near the end of May and work full-time (at least forty hours per week) for twelve weeks. For the summer session, these students receive seven Law School credits, a modest stipend, and a summer tuition remission.
For these students, academic year fall commitment is five clinical credits (twenty hours per week). Continuation through the spring semester is encouraged, but not required.
Students beginning in the fall semester enroll for five clinical credits (twenty hours per week) and four clinical credits in the spring semester (sixteen hours per week).
For more information, contact Clinical Associate Professor Pete DeWind at pjdewind@wisc.edu.
Links to more resources:
Victim Offender Mediation Association (VOMA)
VOMA Recommended Ethical Guidelines (PDF)
The International Forgiveness Organizations
The University of Minnesota Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking
