The Supreme Judicial Court Committee on Restorative Justice was established by the Justices of the SJC to develop, implement, and oversee pilot programs to incorporate restorative justice practices in selected criminal cases in the Massachusetts courts.
G. L. c. 276B, § 1, which authorized the use of restorative justice as part of the 2018 criminal justice reform legislation, defines restorative justice as "a voluntary process whereby offenders, victims and members of the community collectively identify and address harms, needs and obligations resulting from an offense, in order to understand the impact of that offense." The statute provides that "offender[s] shall accept responsibility for their actions and the process shall support the offender as the offender makes reparation to the victim or to the community in which the harm occurred."
Documents
Committee Members
Hon. Kimberly S. Budd, Chief Justice, Supreme Judicial Court, Chair
Hon. Peter Krupp, Associate Justice, Superior Court, Vice Chair
Hon. Heidi Brieger, Chief Justice of the Trial Court
Hon. Michael Ricciuti, Chief Justice of the Superior Court
Hon. Stacey Fortes, Chief Justice of the District Court
Hon. Tracy-Lee Lyons, Chief Justice of the Boston Municipal Court
Hon. Michelle Fentress, Associate Justice of the District Court
Hon. David Breen, Associate Justice of the Boston Municipal Court
Hon. David Weingarten, Associate Justice of the Boston Municipal Court
Pamerson Ifill, Commissioner of Probation, Mass. Probation Service
Vincent Lorenti, Director of Community Justice Support Centers, Mass. Probation Service
Corinn Crowninshield, Statewide Manager for Victim Services, Mass. Probation Service
Dennis Everett, Jr., Director of Restorative Justice, Executive Office of Public Safety and Security
District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden, Suffolk County
District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz, Plymouth County
Marc Tohme, Suffolk District Attorney's Office
Dana Pierce, Harvard Law School
Kristen Graves, Committee for Public Counsel Services
Kelli Porges, Iglehart and Porges LLC
Chip Phinney, SJC Liaison
Georgia Critsley, Executive Office of the Trial Court Liaison
Meredith Shih, SJC Liaison