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CAPE Forums Will Explore Restorative Justice

The Center for Applied and Professional Ethics (CAPE) and the Chico Peace and Justice Center are presenting the “Peace of Mind Lecture/Workshop Series: Restorative Justice and Citizen Activism” during fall 2001. The series consists of six separate presentations and workshops, beginning on Thursday, Sept. 13.

The opening forum, “Restorative Justice: A Local Practice,” will feature Andrew Flescher, director, CAPE; Jane Dolan, Butte County supervisor; Jessica Rios, Wild Heritage Campaign; and Neighbors for Fiscal and Environmental Responsibility, Measure A campaign

Andrew Flescher, Religious Studies and the new director of CAPE, said that CAPE is going in a direction that will include community. The Restorative Justice series, especially relevant to community involvement, is exemplary of this. “Restorative Justice builds community by providing its practitioners with a constructive model for framing responses to crime, social injustice, interpersonal conflict, and political and environmental offenses. It seeks to offer a remedy for damages incurred by all who are harmed by a crime or injustice. It is controversial, in particular, because of its dual emphasis on offended and offender alike, “ said Flescher.

Flescher, in his second-year at CSU, Chico, is an assistant professor of Religion, Ethics, and Society. His dissertation, completed in May 2000, at Brown University, was titled, “Going Beyond the Call of Duty: A Re-examination of the Nature of Heroes, Saints and Supererogation” in which he looked at what prompts some human beings to give more than is required by duty, obligation, or need. It is a question relevant to any conversation about civic and moral responsibility.

Flescher is excited about the workshop aspect of the series. On Wednesday, Sept. 16, “Walking the Talk: Citizen-Activism Workshop,” will offer participants the opportunity to look at concrete opportunities for involvement in restorative justice.

The following questions will be discussed in the series:

• In relation to the natural world, how does the word “justice” apply?
• Which aims of the criminal justice system does restorative justice do a better job of accomplishing?
• Does your work, in some sense, aim at healing and restoring relationships, a focus of restorative justice?

The series will be held on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays in September, except for the first forum. Check the calendar for details.

In addition to the Restorative Justice series, Cape is holding six other forums during the fall, including “Darwin in the Millennium” in conjunction with the Anthropology series, Oct. 25 and Nov. 8; “The Ethics of Stem Cell Research,” Oct. 11; “Do High Stakes Exams Make Better Kids?” Nov. 14; and “The Ethics of Human Cloning,” Nov. 29.

Kathleen McPartland