Expert members will explore the role of restorative justice in combating hate crime
Contact: Alise Murawski
Senior Communications Associate
Religion & Society Program
847-528-2882⏐maryalise.murawski@aspeninstitute.org
Washington, D.C., March 15, 2023 –– The Religion and Society Program at the Aspen Institute today announced the formation of a new working group of experts and leaders that will focus its efforts on how to use restorative justice processes to combat hate, especially hate motivated by religious bias. Cohort members will join the nearly 120 other experts convened in the Program’s Powering Pluralism Network.
“Hate-inspired violence has ravaged our communities for far too long,” said Simran Jeet Singh, Executive Director of the Religion & Society Program. “Convening this group of leaders is a step in interrupting the cycle of hate and fostering more justice in our country.”
Members will convene in person this month to explore the promise of restorative justice as a response to hate crimes motivated by religious bias. The cohort includes leading academics working at the intersection of hate crimes and restorative justice, restorative justice practitioners, criminal justice professionals, and leaders of faith-based and faith-inspired civil society organizations.
The cohort’s work will culminate in a resource that will provide guidelines for civil society organizations on how to recognize and divert appropriate cases away from retributive justice and carceral responses and into restorative justice processes. The toolkit will articulate a roadmap for faith-based civil society organizations and religious leaders on how best to interface and build relationships with victims, offenders, criminal justice professionals, and restorative justice practitioners.
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The Religion and Society Program at the Aspen Institute works to strengthen the understanding of religion’s role in advancing equity and the common good by shifting ideas, policies and practices. The Program does this to foster religious pluralism, a vision of society in which religious and nonreligious people thrive, respecting and engaging together across beliefs. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org/religion.
The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.