At Botanical Brouhaha, we've spent over a decade sharing our belief in the power of flowers to change lives and impact communities. Today's bonus episode of the BB Podcast not only supports that notion, but also serves as a call to action for us to continue using our artistic medium for the healing of our communities.

After reading The Power of Dignity: How Transforming Justice Can Heal Our Communities by Judge Victoria Pratt, we knew we needed to share not only the book with you, but the author as well! And although she’s not a florist, we believe she holds some powerful tools we can use to successfully flower with purpose in our communities and beyond.

So, it's a pleasure to introduce you to The Honorable Victoria Pratt who served as the chief judge of the Newark Municipal Court, has been a professor at the Newark School of Criminal Law, and has taught at the Rutgers School of Law. Her TED talk clip has been viewed over 30 million times on Facebook.

Judge Pratt's reforms transformed her courtroom by introducing creative tools like essay writing and social services partnerships. And, ultimately, she helped defendants begin to trust the justice system again because of the dignity she showed them throughout the court proceedings.

In this episode, Judge Pratt shares:

• the 4 Principles of Procedural Justice
  • Voice
  • Neutrality
  • Understanding
  • Respect
• how she was able to transform her courtroom into a space for problem-solving and a resource for healing
• the power of community gardens on healing neighborhoods
• the impact of court fines on the success of restorative justice
• how business owners can use their leadership skills to impact their teams and communities
• the power of youth courts in using positive peer pressure and accountability for young people

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Process is the Punishment: Handling Cases in a Lower Criminal Court
• Dr. Norma Bowe | Kean University | Changing the Landscape for Peace One Garden at a Time
• Tom Tyler | Why People Obey The Law
• Red Hook Community Justice Center | Brooklyn
• Newark Community Solutions
• Center for Court Innovation

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WORK OF JUDGE VICTORIA PRATT:

GET THE BOOK

WEBSITE

INSTAGRAM

TED TALK

TWITTER

MEDIA

Host: Amy McGee (Botanical Brouhaha + Bloom Trust Co.)

BB Podcast Sound Engineer: Grayson McGee

Music Written & Performed by: Landon McGee