Week One: Touching Spirit Bear

Well, I kind of picked an obvious one, but oh well.  I started doing a little research on circle justice, because it intrigued me.  It is obviously quite important to the story; the whole plot centers around it.  It would also seem that the theme of this book is "Justice should heal, not punish.", which is the idea of circle justice.  When I looked it up, I found out that it is real, and they really have used it in Minnesota.  They have tried it out in several cities and towns, one of which is Minneapolis (where Cole is from).  They require the offender to plead guilty before the Circle can take place, as Cole did in the book.  A trained volunteer presides over the meetings and passes around an object that allows the holder to speak.  I found out the object can be whatever the Circle Keeper chooses, such as a feather in this book.  Circle Justice was first used by a legal system on a Native American reserve in Canada's Yukon territory.  Next, it was used in Minnesota.  Massachusetts is the only other state so far that is preparing to use it.  As I have said before, the purpose of Circle Justice is to heal, not punish.  So far, it has had a high success rate.  I wonder If Cole will be "healed" by it.  I also wonder if Peter and his family will be healed by the process, since it is supposed to heal a community as well.

Sources:

"Mpls Star-Tribune Article About Circle of Justice." Communications for Justice. 28 June 2008 .

Rieger, Lisa. "Circle Peacemaking." Alaska Justice Forum. 2001. Alaska Justice Statistical Analysis Center. 28 June 2008 .