Faculty:

Judge J. Wesley Saint Clair (ret) joined JAMS Mediation, Arbitration and ADR Services after a sterling 30-year career as a judge in the King County court system.  Initially as a District Court judge and then as a Superior court judge, a court of general jurisdiction.  As a trial judge, Judge Saint Clair presided over thousands of cases and where he developed expertise is skillfully handling numerous case types: complex personal injury, and product liability.

Judge Saint Clair has received numerous awards and acknowledgments for his work in therapeutic courts, resulting in a New York Times article about his court.  https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/15/us/15drugs.html

He ended his career as chief of the juvenile court and was introduced to restorative practices as a more holistic and humanistic of engaging with children and families.   His program and passion resulted in a TED presentation in 2016.   https://youtu.be/9zx9zYKto_0

Judge Saint Clair remains committed to addressing issues that plague our systems: homelessness, mass incarceration, and systemic and institutional racism.  

Julie Hilt is the founder of Alternative Restorative Communities (ARC), LLC, a restorative justice agency where she collaborates with community partners to create programs that work to address the racial and ethnic disparity in the juvenile justice system. Julie came to California from London, England. Her work is greatly influenced by research and methods that have been pioneered in the UK, bringing a more global perspective to juvenile justice.

Julie’s 10+ years of experience working with restorative practices range from co-facilitating the first victim offender conference on San Quentin’s death row to working with youth on diversion in the community. She taught victim/offender education at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville for two years and has presented at conferences, both nationally and internationally.

Since 2015, she has contracted with Solano County Probation to provide a restorative justice program for youth in detention, created and provides a diversion program to keep youth out of the juvenile justice system, and created The Noah Project, a mentoring program that trains community members to provide mentorship for at-risk and incarcerated youth. The Noah Project has also trained youth in detention to become peer mentors.

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Restorative justice practice can improve the effectiveness of your justice system and improve case outcomes. The practice benefits the victim, offender, and community. Research has consistently proven the effectiveness of restorative justice compared to more punitive approaches. Restorative justice includes both trauma responsive and access to justice practices. Additionally, it can be used across case types with both adults and juveniles.

This course is an opportunity for judges to learn about the history, current use, and future of restorative justice in the United States. Participants will learn about cultural considerations, different applications of restorative justice, and research findings. At the conclusion of this course, judges will have practical skills and resources they can apply to all case types.

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