Encounters With Dignity

When Erica Washington was worn down from litigating death penalty cases, a local faith-based coalition introduced her to restorative justice diversion and her career trajectory shifted.

In this episode, Erica explains how her team supports communities across the country as they create pre-charge alternatives to incarceration. She also takes us inside the experience of accompanying participants through a Restorative Community Conferencing process.

Fueled by a desire to create off-ramps from racialized dehumanization in the criminal legal system, Erica believes strongly in the power of transforming pain into purpose — for individuals, communities, and systems.

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Stay connected with Catholic Mobilizing Network and our mission to end the death penalty, advance justice, and begin healing. Join our network at catholicsmobilizing.org

To learn more about how to build a pre-charge restorative justice diversion program, check out EJUSA’s Diversion Toolkit for Communities: restorativejustice.ejusa.org/

Join us for an introductory workshop on restorative justice. These three-hour virtual sessions are held throughout the year. Visit catholicsmobilizing.org/events

When Mike Butler started as a police officer in Longmont, Colorado, the department and the community were not operating in right relationship with one another. That’s why he began looking for approaches to public safety that would embrace the gifts and talents of all members of the community.

In his 26 years as Chief of Public Safety in Longmont, Mike worked to create community partnerships that were rooted in the principles and practices of restorative justice—and the fruits of this dedication are clear.  

Mike joins us on this episode to share how the journey to reimagine public safety in Longmont, CO included taking a hard look at what needed to change within the police department in order to build a culture of mutual responsibility beyond it.

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Stay connected with Catholic Mobilizing Network and our mission to end the death penalty, advance justice, and begin healing. Join our network at catholicsmobilizing.org

You can watch the “How to Love Your Enemy” documentary at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2zDQ4S4n7I.

At St. Simon of Cyrene Catholic Parish on the westside of Chicago, restorative practices are a part of everyday parish life—from one-on-one conversations, to addressing conflict and trauma in the community, to organizing for justice and equity.

In this episode, Fr. Larry Dowling joins us to share about how implementing these restorative approaches in his parish community has supported all parishioners, from children and parents, to returning citizens, to the parish council.

By breaking open Scripture and theology, Fr. Larry invites each of us to live into the principles and practices of restorative justice as a way of being Church.

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Stay connected with Catholic Mobilizing Network and our mission to end the death penalty, advance justice, and begin healing. Join our network at catholicsmobilizing.org

Ready to implement restorative practices in your parish or ministry? Check out CMN’s new program, Conversations in Communion: Parish Dialogues for Connection and Understanding at catholicsmobilizing.org/conversations.

Read the blog by Fr. Larry, Courageous Conversations on Race at catholicsmobilizing.org/blog/courageous-conversations-on-race/

For Ainka Jackson—founding Executive Director of the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth, and Reconciliation—restorative justice is an actionable way of life that attends to the many forms of violence in her community.

The Selma Center's mission honors the city's legacy as the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement and writes a next chapter of racial healing, bridging divides, and building the beloved community.

In this episode, Ainka explains the six principles of nonviolence, and illuminates them through stories of healing and repair within her own community. She invites each of us to answer the call to be ministers of reconciliation, embodying nonviolence as a way of doing so.

Extraordinarily high mandatory minimum sentences defined many of Mark Osler’s cases as a state prosecutor—that is, until a conversion moment changed the trajectory of his career.

As a prosecutor, legal scholar, and professor, Mark provides a window into the unique role that system actors can play in transforming the legal system from the inside.

In this episode, Mark shares how restorative principles, and his own deep Christian faith, have inspired him to center human dignity, mercy, and redemption in his work on clemency and sentencing reforms.

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Stay connected with Catholic Mobilizing Network and our mission to end the death penalty, advance justice, and begin healing.

Ready to take action to oppose executions and advocate for clemency? Sign up at catholicsmobilizing.org/mercy

Read books written by Mark Osler:

“Prosecuting Jesus”: https://www.pcusastore.com/Products/066426185X/prosecuting-jesus.aspx

“Jesus on Death Row”: https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Death-Row-American-Punishment/dp/0687647568

On this season of the podcast, we’ve been journeying with people impacted by the criminal legal system. This episode reminds us that every one of us is touched by incarceration — sometimes, we only have to look as far as the person in the pew next to us on Sunday.

Chris Hoke, Co-Founder and Director of Underground Ministries joins us to share about their church-based model of accompaniment for people returning from prison: One Parish One Prisoner.

Chris invites each of us to consider how we are called to be resurrection people, prepared to walk with those who are raised from the tombs of incarceration.

Aswad Thomas is no stranger to the physical and psychological impacts of crime and violence.

His experience as a victim of gun violence led him to his current work with Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice — an organization that centers the voices of those most impacted by crime in the work of finding and creating solutions to it.

In this episode, Aswad highlights a key tenet of restorative justice: that responses to harm should always be victim-centered. He also shares about victims’ rights and services, and how we can support a reality where the response to harm and crime is one that is rooted in safety for all.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, over 1.2 million people are incarcerated in the U.S. right now. For 27 years, Felix Rosado was one of those individuals.

At the age of 18, Felix was told he would die in prison as punishment for the crime he committed — but the criminal legal system did nothing to ask him to reckon with the consequences of his actions, or make steps towards repair.

In this episode, Felix shares how returning to his Catholic faith and learning about restorative justice set him on a journey of taking true accountability, transforming his life, and ultimately gaining his freedom.

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Stay connected with Catholic Mobilizing Network and our mission to end the death penalty and promote restorative justice.

Sign up to get our emails at catholicsmobilizing.org/join

Resources from this episode:

• Watch Felix’s 4-minute mini-doc: youtu.be/xFkal1XvDmk?si=RE0rB3JlBcOa_GPg
• Read “Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice” from the USCCB: www.usccb.org/resources/responsibility-rehabilitation-and-restoration-catholic-perspective-crime-and-criminal
• Read “Fratelli Tutti”: www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html
• Read “Transcending: Reflections Of Crime Victims” by Howard Zehr: www.amazon.com/Transcending-Reflections-Victims-Howard-Zehr/dp/1561483338
• Bureau of Justice Statistics: bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisons-report-series-preliminary-data-release

Andrea’s youngest daughter was just a toddler when her father was struck on his bicycle by an intoxicated driver.

Learning to process the grief of his death was something this family had spent most of their lives doing. But 15 years later, that journey took a big step forward when Andrea’s daughter asked to “meet the man that killed Daddy.”

In this episode, Andrea joins us to share what it was like to participate in a restorative process with the man who caused her husband's death, and how she continues to live out her journey of healing and forgiveness.

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Stay connected with Catholic Mobilizing Network and our mission to end the death penalty and promote restorative justice.

Sign up to get our emails at catholicsmobilizing.org/join

Ready to learn more about restorative justice? Register to attend an upcoming Intro to RJ workshop at catholicsmobilizing.org/intro-rj

To hear more stories like Andrea's, sign up for our blog at catholicsmobilizing.org/blog

For Fr. Dustin Feddon, the practice of being present with people who are currently and formerly incarcerated is a restorative act — a witness to the dignity of each person and the hope of redemption.

In this episode, Fr. Dustin takes us inside solitary confinement and death row in Florida, places where so few people are allowed to visit, and gives a glimpse into the interior lives of men living, and dying, there. He also shares about how these experiences inspired him to found Joseph House, a community of formerly incarcerated people.

Throughout our conversation, Fr. Dustin recalls how he first came to learn about restorative justice and how it continues to shape his parish and community-based ministries.