Many of us who attended the ABA Dispute Resolution Conference in New York this past April were lucky enough to see an excellent movie about women and the peace movement in Liberia: Pray the Devil Back to Hell (http://www.praythedevilbacktohell.com/v3/). This past week the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) released its report. The recommendation getting … Continue reading Facing the past in Liberia
The Restorative Justice in Adult Courts Committee of the Missouri Restorative Justice Coalition is sponsoring a symposium on Restorative Justice in Adult Criminal Courts on Friday Nov. 13, 2009, at the University of Missouri-Columbia. During the morning plenary session experts in the field, both academics and practitioners, will present papers on restorative justice in adult courts. The workshops in … Continue reading Restorative Justice Conference in Missouri for Missouri
North Korea recently sentenced two U.S. journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, to 12 years of hard labor for illegally crossing the North Korean border. By all accounts imprisonment in North Korea, especially in a labor camp, is horrible and potentially life-threatening. The question now is whether their early release can be negotiated. This … Continue reading What are their interests? Negotiating with North Korea
Over the weekend I read a fascinating account of what life is like for international development workers in Iraq (in an email from a colleague). I learned about the dreary living conditions, severe restrictions due to security, and the need to carry around personal protection gear. But, I was most fascinated by the account of … Continue reading Does email contribute to conflict in Iraq?
Earlier this month the first drug court in the USA, in Dade County Florida, marked its 20th birthday. Many newspapers observed the anniversary and published what are now fairly commonplace stories about successful participants—along with a new twist of possible drug court closures due to tough economic times. At this point one third of all … Continue reading Happy Therapeutic Birthday: The First Drug Court Turns 20
Many years ago, when I was a deputy public defender in Los Angeles, I represented a client charged with sales of crack cocaine as a third strike. This meant he was facing 25 years to life in prison. My client had no defense and did not deny the charge. The prosecutor offered to “strike a … Continue reading It Just Isn’t Fair: Why Defendants Reject “Good” Plea Bargain Deals
This week academics and practitioners will join together at the 2nd National Conference on Restorative Justice: “Mainstreaming Restorative Justice: Empowering Communities, Restoring Responsibility” at the University of Texas at San Antonio, on May 13-15, 2009. According to the website: “The National Conference on Restorative Justice will feature four primary program tracks. These tracks are: Academic and Research, Faith and … Continue reading Restorative Justice in Texas and Beyond
I am pleased to join Indisputably as a guest blogger. My particular interests include criminal dispute resolution and rule of law development. I teach dispute resolution courses at the Appalachian School of Law. This year, as I do every year, I ended my Advanced Negotiation class with a three defendant plea bargain role play. It … Continue reading Power Pleas in Advanced Negotiation Class
