Touching Spirit Bear - Mini Report 1

The Circle of Justice really got me thinking... Is there really such a thing? So I went online and did a quick Google Search, apparently only taking .01452 seconds to complete. As it turns out, there really is such a thing!
The system works by the offender pleading guilty, and accepts to be given a sentence by a circle of community members. If the circle accepts the case, the offender and the circle agree upon a sentence. Then a trained facilitator meets with the victim, offender, and some others to talk about the circle process. A group of interested community members gets together and discusses the best sentencing. The offender then carries out his sentence with occasional meetings by the circle to determine his process. (**1)
I think that it is really cool that this does exists, I find that, in certain circumstances, this is a much better method of dealing with “offenders” then just shipping them off to a tax supported jail. This way they can show that they really are sorry, and not just sitting in jail brooding how they will get revenge. The book Touching Spirit Bear really comes close to portraying the circle justice correctly, there are some small deviations here and there, but overall it is a great job by Mikaelsen.


Works Cited
(1) "Article About Circle of Justice." 6 Apr. 1999. Minneapolis Star Tribune. 1 July 2008 .
Lilles, Heino. "Circle Sentancing." Internation Institution for Restorative Practices. 9 Aug. 2002. 1 July 2008 .
"Touching Spirt Bear & Circle Justice." National Tribal Justice Resource Center. 23 Oct. 2002. 1 July 2008 .