Before Herb died on January 12, 2012, he conducted a series of interviews with individuals he felt were making inroads into the area of Restorative Justice.  Each interview is specific to the guest’s field of interest and brings to the conversation insight and inspiration that is timeless.

In his words, “My show, PATH to JUSTICE, brings together the voices that bridge the connection between Spirituality and Restorative Justice.  Healing the community is everyone’s job and my guests and I give answers to the hard questions that men, women and young people must face when dealing with a social crisis. My guests include a cross section of the community who address the three stakeholders in the Restorative Justice process: The Victims, The Offenders, and The Community.  We also discuss the spirituality needed to restore our community to wholeness.”
What follows is the first in a series of interviews that began roughly 8 years ago.

In this first episode of Path to Justice, October 13, 2010, Spirituality, host, Herb gives an overview of what the listeners can expect in upcoming weeks.  He’s a little rough around the edges in the beginning, but you’ll see, as I did, how he matures over time into his position as host and engages the listener into in the subject at hand. Listen now.

​This isn’t necessarily a story about restorative justice, although many who find themselves homeless after incarceration are as likely to benefit from The Giving Keys as anyone else.
 
A few months back, I noticed a necklace my daughter was wearing that had a key on the end of it.  I asked her about it and she said it was given to her as a bridesmaid’s gift from her friend, the bride, for being one of her bridesmaids. She told me the key came from this place in Los Angeles called, The Giving Keys. So, I checked it out and was very impressed with their mission and story.  A story of paying it forward in a loving and unique way.
 
Caitlin Crosby, actress and singer/songwriter, founded the company through a series of serendipitous circumstances that created a jewelry line made with keys, each stamped with an inspiring word that holds its own story for the wearer of the key.  The hope is that when the owner doesn’t need the “story” any longer, the key will be passed on to another that may need the word and the key to unlock the empowerment inside themselves to create their new story.  As Caitlin puts it, “Realizing that, in a way, we are all like these keys – unique, flawed, scarred, and sometimes discarded by others.” 
 
The Giving Keys partners with Goodwill, PATH and Chrysalis, to assist individuals transitioning out of homelessness into a self-sustaining life.  Each person working with Giving Keys has their own unique story to share and I would invite you to read them along with the stories of others who have shared their stories of Paying it Forward to others who were in need of that human connection and support.  These are truly inspiring stories and incredible people sharing of themselves in a very simple, but open way.
 
I have my own giving keys and I have given keys to others, who just needed to know someone was there and understood what it was like for them.
 
By paying it forward, we all benefit.

The following article by  Gilien Silsby honors the tireless work of USC's Post Conviction Justice Project.  Below is an excerpt from her article,  For Inmates Serving Life Terms, USC's Post-Conviction Justice Project Sparks Hope Where None Existed.

The inmates at the maximum-security Pelican Bay State Prison in Northern California sat in a circle in the enormous gym, their hair graying at the temples and a decades-old refrain echoing through their heads: No optimism. No chance to go home. Most had been incarcerated for more than half their lives, sentenced to die in prison for crimes committed as juveniles or young adults.
But on a day last month, the men thought about second chances. They listened and took notes as a group of people dedicated to reforming the juvenile justice system spoke to them about the difficult path to release through parole.
Made up of USC law students, formerly incarcerated advocates and three human rights and legal professionals, the team was there to educate the prisoners about new laws that could lead to their freedom.
“We are really excited to meet you today, and to help you get home,” said Professor Heidi Rummel, director of the USC Gould School of Law’s Post-Conviction Justice Project, which has co-sponsored or written nearly every juvenile justice bill in California since 2012.  “We are going to help you with the parole process because it can be a steep hill to climb,” Rummel, a former federal prosecutor, told the men. “The goal is to show the board who you are now. You need to search within yourself to find your story.”
Rummel and her Post-Conviction Justice Project students have made it their mission to hold parole workshops at every prison in California that houses juvenile offenders sentenced to life without parole. They have teamed up with Elizabeth Calvin, senior advocate at Human Rights Watch, who teaches with Rummel at USC Gould.
So far, they have visited 19 prisons in the past year, holding workshops and offering counsel to 211 of the state’s 257 juvenile offenders originally sentenced to life without parole (LWOP). On the Pelican Bay prison visit, they were joined by Scott Budnick, producer of The Hangover franchise and founder of the non-profit Anti-Recidivism Coalition, which employs former youth offenders in Hollywood and elsewhere.
For the full article and more about the Post-Conviction Justice Project click on the link  USC News.

I wanted to begin this post by honoring the work of so many that have worked with and researched the positive effects of Centering Prayer within the incarcerated setting.  Many volunteers working with incarcerated individuals use Centering Prayer or alternative versions to help bring peace and forgiveness to those who seek it. What follows was written by Rev. Mikail Davenport about his experience and research into the benefits of Centering Prayer as was shared with my husband, Herb Blake.

Mikail makes a comparison between what most would identify with as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as the most practiced faiths in the world and some of the more popular ideas, teachings and beliefs in the area of spirituality.  This approach isn’t meant to exclude any ideas, beliefs or personal practices, which are as many and unique as there are individuals existing on the planet today.  However, the premise is sharing ideas, blogs, articles and videos of what most people believe are the best examples of what our fellow human beings engaged in the world around them affecting change through prayer, group encounters, teaching and advocacy. 
 
After reviewing many articles on the subject Mikail developed a simple list of the most common themes associated with many organized religions and spirituality practices and beliefs.   He goes on to argue that there are valid distinctions between most organized religious beliefs and general spirituality and one cannot stand without the other.  But whether an individual or group reaches out to make the world a better place for everyone based on their religious convictions or through a deep sense of spiritual calling he honors their work and shares it openly.
 
In The Last Place I Looked, Herb brings to light one of the many meditation practices used in prison systems across the United States today.  Contemplative Prayer was, what Herb found to be his path to understanding his place resting in the arms of God. 

 Blessings from Behind the Bars: Centering Prayer in Prison
Author: 
 Rev. Mikail Davenport
In 2006, my late wife, Kate, four other psychotherapists, a cognitive behavioral trainer, and myself began a program at Travis County Correctional Center in Austin entitled LifeTools©. It provided psychological, cognitive behavioral, and spiritual direction for over 200 men until 2009, when the program ended.
Twelve of the 100+ graduates of the program were convicted and sentenced to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). At their request, I have been visiting them biannually as a TDCJ Chaplain’s Volunteer since 2008, mailing them books and materials on Centering Prayer (CP) as well as the Contemplative Life Program (CLP) in PDF format.
Centering Prayer, incidentally, is an approved TDCJ course and is just beginning to blossom around the state prison system, thanks to the efforts of Sam Mungo and others.
Ten of my 12 "boys", some of whom are serving 20+year sentences, have taken the challenge of CP and practice it daily, along with the Daily Readings for Contemplative Living by Fr. Thomas. Four of these men have been paroled; three have been very successful in their “free-world” lives. The remaining six, while still incarcerated, have gone so deeply into CP that they are sharing with others the enlightenment and breathing space both CP and CLP have provided them - not in a proselytizing manner, but offering insight when asked. Offenders within their dorms have come to them with questions like, "What is it that makes you so peaceful here?  Why do you smile so much? Whatever it is, can I have some of it?"
Their “lessons” began with Open Mind, Open Heart, followed in order by The Human Condition, Fruits & Gifts of the Spirit, and The Daily Reader. Once they were able to sit at least once a day for 15 minutes, we moved on to The Spiritual Journey Transcripts and the CLP. Their letters and my notes from our visits portray a spiritual emergence far deeper than the usual “I got prison religion” that appears so frequently in the majority of offenders.
Examples of this emergence are:
“I can finally see others, not as security threats, but as guys just like me but who haven’t found the unconditional love of God for themselves.” 
“After so many years of living like an animal, drinking and drugging and hurting people, I actually FEEL the presence of God within me, helping me forward to become a better person.” 
“The intense guilt I have suffered because of my deeds has been, for the most part, replaced by understanding of my false self, how it works, and how I can change my programs for happiness”.  
The rewards of this ministry are boundless!
It has not been easy - the “unloading” has been tough on them - but they are growing in the Spirit. I can tell when I am being “conned”, and these guys are sincerely changed. What a blessing!
Two men have requested, through their Chaplains, the Open Mind, Open Heart CD set, (which must be played in the prison chapels only), so they can share what they have garnered from Centering Prayer, the Welcoming Prayer, and other CLP modules with those offenders who have shown an interest. These two men are committed to becoming CP presenters once paroled, eventually to provide CP classes in the prison system.
All I have done is open the door; these men have stepped through and seized the opportunity for spiritual growth beyond anything I could have imagined.  It is a small start, but shows what an amazing difference CP and CLP have made in the terribly deprecating psychological conditions within Texas prisons. As we Sufis say, "YA FATTAH" (God has opened the Way)!
Rev. Mikail Davenport
Austin, TX

Here is an excerpt from an interview with J. Kim Wright, Integrative Law Movement.
The Conscious Lawyer 
​VISION FOR LAW IN 2050“The seeds of the late 1990s and early 2000s have flourished. We are grateful to our pioneers and trailblazers who held this vision and brought it to fruition.
Lawyers are now recognized for our true purpose: peacemaking, problem-solving and healing the wounds of the community. Trials are rare and civil. Collaboration, prevention, and transformation are the lawyers’ stock in trade. We create sustainable agreements and resolutions.
Lawmakers serve, conscious of all the stakeholders, and of our interconnectedness with Nature and each other. They work on common goals and values to benefit everyone.
Law enforcement focuses on Right Relationships, working in partnership with the community to foster strong, empowered and safe communities.
Judges are wise leaders who help to balance competing values, hold everyone accountable, and deliver fair results with love, compassion and empathy.
Prisons are a part of our past. Now we focus on rehabilitation, healing, and reconnection for all members of society. Criminal behavior is seen as a symptom of brokenness that needs to be healed.
Law students still learn the focused, analytical thinking that is known as thinking like a lawyer. Now they are also trained in holistic thinking. Art is part of the balanced core curriculum.
Our history of restorative practices and nonviolent communication in schools has helped to produce citizens who tell their truths, take responsibility and accept accountability.
The Legal System Works for Everyone.”​
Our history of restorative practices and nonviolent communication in schools has helped to produce citizens who tell their truths, take responsibility and accept accountability.
The Legal System Works for Everyone.”
J. Kim Wright is a US lawyer and a founding pioneer of the expanding Integrative Law Movement, a movement that can be described in many ways including, in Kim’s own words: “an international movement that responds to the challenges of law practice with creative, innovative solutions. It blends the human and the analytical. The approach spans personal and systemic change. Integrative lawyers are purpose-oriented, that is, they have a clear sense of their own purpose and the purpose of law; they have a broader view of their roles as lawyers, often seeing themselves as change agents; and they are innovative, looking for ways to serve clients and themselves.”
She herself usually answers the question of what Integrative Law is using the poem of ‘The Blind Men and the Elephant’ given the concept is not easily defined or captured in words. These creative tools also invite a sensory, as well as intellectual, understanding of the concept, something which would be encouraged by lawyers within the movement.
What, for you, is the main difficulty with today’s mainstream legal system?I think one of the issues is that people are considered commodities. Clients are sources of money and lawyers are not sources of conflict-resolution but rather people come to lawyers so that they can “beat somebody up”. And so, in both cases, the process is not about resolving conflict, peace-making, healing or getting beyond something. It is not about creation, it is not about love. If it was about all of those things the practice would be designed differently and society would be designed differently, And it is one of the reasons that I am so interested in transforming the practice of law because it is that kind of design, those kinds of values, that I want to promote.
It can be challenging to sustain these beautiful visions when faced with the reality of the problems we see everywhere in the world. Where do you turn for sustenance and courage?I am constantly inspired by the people that I meet and their courage in stepping out and being different when it looks like they are all alone. That sustains me a lot as well as being part of a community that is still able to be idealistic. I am almost 59 years old and I am supposed to be jaded and cynical and, for goodness sake, I am a lawyer! All lawyers are cynical right? But no, I am not, I really am constantly inspired. I am inspired that you created this magazine, you listened to what you were called to do. And I am inspired that I am having dinner this evening with a lawyer who has gone to India to do yoga training. She was looking for what to do next and she got the call to go to India. The people in my community and the people I meet on my travels are just magical, the greatest tribe. And that is the main thing. Travel is my spiritual practice because it brings me in touch with, not only these people, but the synchronicities of the world.

There are really great stories out there about individuals and organizations that make a daily choice to be that person or organization that cares enough, that sees the potential in all humans to know that it’s all about second chances. We all get second chances all the time; do-overs; get-out-of-jai-free (or for a nominal fee) cards and more that we take for granted. We think nothing of it. In fact we expect it.
 
You may not have gotten a speeding ticket lately, but you might have picked up a few parking tickets here and there. What happens? Well, for most of us we pay the fine; maybe go to driving school (keep those points off the ol’ record), but unless you’ve made it a practice of collecting these things, you can consider yourself awarded a second chance. A second chance to use the public roads to go to and from work, maybe pick up your kids from school, or make that very important meeting that could launch your dreams. 
 
Typically, individuals released from incarceration, although no longer behind bars, are nevertheless still in shackles. The restrictions are many as to freedom of movement, where one is allowed to live and with whom. Many programs that once served to aid the reentry process of the recently released have been made out of reach for the individual or dissolved altogether. As rules go, I doubt you or I could survive under such restrictions, yet we demand from those who have so much less to survive and succeed with few resources and fewer support mechanisms in place than is humane. Yet we think nothing of building up a case against those with a past that included incarceration.
 
What happens to you if you get laid off or even fired from your job? You’ve got a couple of options, find another job or maybe collect unemployment. Right? So, say you find that new job and before you can begin, they do a background check on you. What will they find? How generous do you think they will be with you? How forgiving, accepting, accommodating? How likely do you think it is that you will even get to that first day of work if you are recently released from prison and the best you can hope for is maybe a day laborer’s job at less than minimum wage under the table? Or you get hired and you work your first week and when it comes time for the paycheck there isn’t one, because your employer just fired you because of your prison background and you have no pay for the work you did? Where are the second chances here?
 
There is a third option, helping individuals discover their true calling, help them turn that calling into a business and ask community leaders to roll up those sleeves, see these individuals as worth mentoring into an entrepreneur that can stand on his or her own among other businesses and thrive.
 
One such organization is making this happen in a big way; Defy Ventures, Inc. In their “About Us” page, Defy Ventures says the following: “Defy Ventures Transforms the lives o business leaders and people with criminal histories through their collaboration along the entrepreneurial journey.” They do more then what is expected from the typical nonprofit agency missioned to help recently released individuals find jobs, shelter and reconnect with family. They help each individual rewrite the story they tell about themselves. Give them solid tools to succeed, mentors from the business world and the type of support and encouragement most of us would envy.
 
Watch the full video from Second Chances: MDC Humanitarian Award Recipient and see for yourself what can be done when passion is leading the way.
 
http://library.fora.tv/2015/05/11/Second_Chances_MDC_Humanitarian_Award_Recipient
 
Catherine Hoke (Rohr) tells the story of how she saw the value inherent in the men that were incarcerated with those running major corporations and thriving. 

Every once in awhile you come across a program that really tugs at your heartstrings. You just know deep down this is really something and will make a difference in so many lives. A month or so ago, I came across The IF Project. Rather than come up with something flowery, this is what it says on their website:
We are a collaboration of law enforcement, currently and previously incarcerated adults and community partners focused on intervention, prevention and reduction in incarceration and recidivism. Our work is built upon–and inspired by–people sharing their personal experiences surrounding the issues of incarceration. This project is based on the question:
If there was something someone could have said or done that would have changed the path that led you here, what would it have been?
How would you answer that question? Reflect for a moment on the choices you’ve made and where you are now. Are you feeling pretty good, or do you many have some regrets? How would your life have changed? Now consider this question asked of a woman behind bars and understand how much she has had to face to even come to this point.
Please take a moment to watch the short video and consider what you can do to be that someone, that by simply being there changed another person’s path.

Restorative Justice is a huge umbrella covering a range of activities and beliefs and practices that address the issues of victim, offender and community and the programs and practices that bring about healing. It also highlights some of our most concerning issues with the legal system and how it can be a barrier to progress and change for the better.

These pages are dedicated to the work and lives of those in Restorative Justice, community healing and spiritual practice that shine a light on the darkness and thereby creating change.  Here, you will find resources to purchase your copy of The Last Place I Looked, by Herb Blake, the story about finding  spiritual peace in the last place one would expect and much more.

Additionally, within these pages are stories about how individuals, from youth living in juvenile camps to lifers in prison, benefit from the process of art and mindfulness to bring about a sense of peace, creative spirituality and self-healing.  It’s about telling new stories about who we are now, rather than reliving old stories that are not us any more.

This is a space to share resources and links associated with Restorative Justice.  I encourage you to share your thoughts and resources relevant to Restorative Justice here so that others may benefit.  It is only through the sharing of ourselves, that we can connect and witness change.

RESOURCES

The Daily Good
Prisoner Reentry Programs
Building Knowledge About Successful Prisoner Reentry Strategies
Reentry Trends In The U.S.
The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program
The Prison Arts Coalition Articles
Arts-In-Corrections Program Returns to California Prisons