In a shuttered Catholic school with bells tolling in the background, Cook County Judge Beatriz Santiago leaned over her desk and asked the defendant how his GED practice tests were going. “Sometimes I ...

Press releases are posted on Independent.com as a free community service. In May 2021, the District Attorney’s Office, in collaboration with the Second District Supervisor’s Office, launched a pilot ...

Last June, a Cook County defendant ate a bagel with cream cheese in a Lawndale community center that doubles as a nontraditional courtroom. “What have you been doing?” the judge asked. “Playing ...

Key points Restorative justice programs often fail due to a lack of consistent personnel in the schools. A controversial issue, restorative justice programs are liable to lose grant funding, depending ...

The city’s first youth restorative justice cohort completed nearly a year of training designed to help young people address conflict, violence and harm in their communities.

In May 2021, the District Attorney’s Office, in collaboration with the Second District Supervisor’s Office, launched a pilot program for Neighborhood Restorative Justice (NRJP) in Goleta, targeting ...

The pattern of racial disproportionality and the increased awareness of the limitations of punitive responses in schools have increased interest in the potential of restorative justice, which rather ...