Leading from the front issuu

“broken”. It incarcerates and punishes offenders while
providing little to no rehabilitation, and for the most part,
there’s little healing for the victims as well. It’s a broken
system which by its very nature cannot heal.
“The ignorance is astounding”, Pat says. “People working
within the Justice system, not knowing The Treaty, not learning
our history. Every Wednesday I’m in court, witnessing
the tragedy, following the same people going through the
“drafting pen” that is New Zealand’s Justice system. Napier
Court on a Wednesday morning is a hell hole.”
FIRE BRAND FOR
TRANSFORMATIVE JUSTICE
A step on from Restorative Justice is Transformative
Justice, first advocated by Canadian Ruth Morris in her
1992 booklet, A Practical Path to Transformative Justice.
A transformative model, she claimed, “helps all of us include
those who fall through the cracks of society, and
transform negative forces into resources for change”.
One of the world’s leading Restorative Justice champions,
(1933 — 2001), Ruth became a close personal
friend of Pat’s when they met in Auckland in 1994 at an
ICOPA conference. Ruth had a deep commitment to, and
achieved much in justice reform and was the epitome of
someone who walked their talk. In fact, in her case she
ran with it!
After gaining a PhD in sociology and social work, she
honed her skills and became a passionate social activist,
university lecturer, community organiser, writer and
speaker. As a Quaker she led the Canadian Quakers
group to consensus in 1981 to become the first religious
group in the world to call for the abolition of prisons.
It follows that she had a deep commitment to the wellbeing
of prisoners and former prisoners. Through her
petitioning, more prisoners were granted bail and she
was instrumental in securing accommodation and establishing
half way houses for released prisoners.
Her life’s vision was, “To help all of us include those
who fall in the cracks of society, and transform negative
forces into resources for change”. Sadly her booklet on
Transformative Justice is just as relevant today as it was
nearly 30 years ago. In terms of Justice reform, she saw
this as a “practical way, a cheaper way, and a more healing
way.”
Pat remembers Ruth as a firebrand, very experienced
and very educated and she had a firm vision as far as
incarceration was concerned. After the 1994 conference
in Auckland she came down to Napier to find out about
Pilot City. She liked what Pilot City was doing, and the
Robson Collection and got in touch with Alan Dick, congratulating
him for supporting both initiatives. Ruth was
keen to establish a Restorative Justice exchange programme
between Canada and New Zealand and send
students back and forth for research purposes. Sadly
this never eventuated because Alan Dick didn’t have the
support of council.
When Pat attended an ICOPA conference in Toronto,
Ruth had the group picketing outside Cadbury’s and
other multi-nationals. She was very challenging and her
debating and knowledge were respected by everyone.
Pat stayed with her and her husband in Toronto for quite
a while. Because she worked so hard, her husband was
always concerned for her health.
“Transformative Justice is really what we’re on to in
Aotearoa with the Treaty. It means that you don’t just restore;
restoring is only patching things up. When Ruth
witnessed Restorative Justice in the court in Napier with
Pakeha carrying it out, and it wasn’t Treaty based, she
Above: Pat outside court.
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Restorative Justice – for an unjust justice system