This suggestion was acted on, and after the metal detectors were removed, violent crime in the schools dropped.

George suggested getting rid of metal detectors at schools-which treat kids like criminals-and having 'mood detectors' instead.

Many of the case studies moved me, but the one I want to find out more about is the story of George Carter, a child in the New Orleans school system, who, after Hurricane Katrina, joined with other children to form Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools ('Rethinkers' for short), who focused on one big problem a year to improve their schools. If both parties are willing to agree to the process, restorative justice can have huge benefits for communities-and for victims and those who've harmed them. She acknowledges that it's not perfect-like any system, it can be subverted, and as in any system, the powerful have a way of getting more justice than the powerless. Peters points out that 'restorative justice' is just a name given to what serves as a traditional justice system in many parts of the world. Whose responsibility is it to see that the harm is repaired? The facilitator asks people to talk about: When a restorative justice facilitator sits down with an offender, the person they've hurt, and family members, friends, and community members, they all look for answers to a different set of questions. When takes a case through the court system, they're trying to answer three big questions: In the modern US justice system, the state stands between the person accused of a crime and the victim of a crime: the state, not the victim, is the aggrieved party. She starts with a brief history of how the US justice system evolved. The author uses a series of representative, fictional cases to introduce situation and then goes on to talk about actual cases in which restorative justice has worked. I was moved and impressed by this well-written book describing how restorative justice can work, in situations of societal tension, after the commission of a crime, and in the aftermath of war.

Marilee peters