August 2008
August 4-8, 2008
Conflict Management and Mediation Training offered by Fresno
Pacific University
Location: MB Biblical Seminary Campus, Fresno
Time: 8:30am to 4pm each day
Fresno University’s Center for Peacemaking & Conflict Studies
offers this course to professionals who wish to a skills for resolving
conflict. Drawing from the social sciences and Biblical examples, theory,
methods and practical skills in listening and mediation are included.
Graduate, CEU or MCLE credit is available.
Registration
information >>
Learn about the
Center for Peacemaking & Conflict Studies >>
August 3-5, 2008
Building Bridges: The Annual Conference of the National Association
of Sentencing Commissions
Location: San Francisco, CA
Every year the NASC Conference 
brings
together hundreds of judges, legislators, academics and policymakers
from around the country to examine our nation's experiences with sentencing
laws and practices, and to identify emerging issues and innovations.
This year's NASC conference is an invitation for sentencing commissions,
commissioners, staff, and partners to consider what it means to build
bridges between sentencing philosophy, policy, and performance, and
to contemplate their roles in constructing those bridges in San Francisco,
one of the nation's most exciting cities.
July 2008
July 28-31, 2008
Renewing Hope, Seeking Justice: National Migration Conference
Location: Washington, DC
Would you like to learn more about the issues and services that impact
immigrants, migrants, refugees, human trafficking victims, and other
people on the move? This conference, co-sponsored by the Catholic Legal
Immigration Network and Migration and Refugee Services, offers a variety
of workshops and speakers, an exciting day of advocacy, and multiple
networking opportunities.
Learn more about the conference >>
June 2008
June 16-20 or July 21-25, 2008
Classroom Conflict Management & Peer Mediation Training
Location: Fresno Pacific University, Fresno, CA
Time: 8:30am to 4pm each day
The Center for Peacemaking & Conflict Studies offers training for
teachers, administrators and school counselors that will increase cooperation
and reduce power struggles in school settings.
Registration
information >>
Learn about the
Center for Peacemaking & Conflict Studies >>
May 2008
May 12-15, 2008
Victim/Offender Education Group (VOEG) training
Location: San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo and San Quentin
The Insight Prison Project is offering a four-day intensive training
for professionals who want to learn how to facilitate the Victim Offender
Education Group (VOEG) program. Pioneered at San Quentin State Prison,
this 22-week program for prisoners teaches them to understand themselves
better, how their life experiences and decisions led them to prison,
and how their crimes have impacted their victim(s), their families,
their communities and themselves. CEUs available. Cost: $1,000. Registration
deposit of $150 due on April 1. Contact Rochelle Edwards, 415-419-3586,
rochelle@insightprisonproject.org
for information and registration.
Learn about the Insight Prison Project >>
May 9, 2008
Mother’s Day visits planned for children of the incarcerated
Each year Get On The Bus marks Mother’s Day and Father’s
Day by organizing visits for children with parents in prison. In 2007,
Get On The Bus brought 39 buses with more than 800 children, 400 caregivers
and 200 volunteers to seven prisons in California. In 2008, Get On The
Bus will be expanding to 47 buses, reuniting even more children with
their parents. Buses from various cities in California will go to the
following prisons on May 9:
California Institution for Women (CIW) – Corona, CA
Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) – Chowchilla,
CA
Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW) – Chowchilla, CA
Ventura Youth Correctional Facility (VYCF) – Camarillo, CA
May 5 to June 13, 2008
Eastern Mennonite University offers four sessions at the Summer
Peacebuilding Institute
Location: 1200 Park Road, Harrisonburg, VA 22802
Howard Zehr, a leader in the restorative justice movement, will be offering
courses during the summer. Some of the offerings include “Restorative
Justice: The Promise, the Challenge” and “Real World Restorative
Justice: What Are We Learning from the Field?” Many other valuable
classes by peacemaking and mediation leaders as also offered.
The Center for Justice & Peacebuilding equips and sustains individuals
and institutions to work for justice and peace through education, training,
practice and research.
Learn more >>
April 2008
April 24, 2008
Death Penalty Focus Annual Awards Dinner
Location: Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, 9500 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly
Hills, CA
The 17th annual DPF awards dinner this year honors John Grisham and
Julian Bond.
April 23-25, 2008
Victim Offender Reconciliation Program (VORP) Training Offered
Location: Fresno Pacific University
A unique seminar for individuals and communities interested in starting
a reconciliation program in their area. Ron Claassen, founder of the
Fresno VORP and other VORP staff will lead the seminar.
Register
>>
Learn about the Center for Peacemaking & Conflict Studies >>
April 22, 2008
Catholic Lobby Day in Sacramento
Time: 9am – 4pm
Location: Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, 11th & K Streets
For the tenth consecutive year, the California Catholic Conference is
hosting Catholics from all over California who are interested in exercising
their "faithful citizenship" in their state’s Capital.
This will be a perfect opportunity to make sure restorative justices
issues stay on the agenda in California.
Registration and information >>
April 13-19, 2008
National Crime Victims Week
Rallies, candlelight vigils, and a host of commemorative activities
are held each year to promote victims' rights and to honor crime victims
and those who advocate on their behalf. Join in the activities!
Learn
more about the Week >>
Download
a resource guide >>
Learn
about activities scheduled in California >>
March 2008
March 28-30, 2008 - Santa
Clara, CA
2008 Innocence Network Conference
Location: Santa Clara University School of Law
Hosted by the Northern California Innocence Project, the 2008 Innocence
Network Conference is open to the public, as well as exonerees, Innocence
Network members, public interest attorneys, law students and undergraduate
students. Contact Amy Kennedy at aekennedy@scu.edu
or (408) 554-1945 x6189.
More information
>>
March 28, 2008
Stand Up for Justice Benefit with Paula Poundstone
Location: Cobb’s Comedy Club, 915 Columbus Ave, San Francisco,
CA
Time: TBA
The 3rd annual fundraiser for Death Penalty Focus.
Third death penalty hearing by CCFAJ to be held in Santa Clara,
CA
Location: Santa Clara University
The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice will
hold its third and final public hearing on issues surrounding the fair
administration of the death penalty in California. Invited witnesses
will include representatives of victims’ organizations and advocacy
groups concerned with the fairness of California’s death penalty
law.
Learn about the commission
and its reports >>
March 21, 2008
Workshop on Human Contact Deprivation
Location: Sacred Heart Parish, 337 Ottawa Street, Joliet, IL
Time: 11am to 4pm
A one-day conference hosted by the Peace and Social Justice Ministry
of the Diocese of Joliet. People who have experienced this deprivation—the
incarcerated, victims of crime and family members of both groups—are
members of our parishes, neighborhoods, community, students in our classrooms.
This event will be informative and helpful in understanding and assisting
those around us experiencing this reality.
For more information or to register, call 815-834-4028.
March 15, 2008
One day symposium on California’s correctional crisis
Location: University of San Francisco School of Law – Law Review
This gathering, aptly named “Confronting the Crisis,” will
review the current federal litigation related to overcrowding, the state
legislature’s response to the crisis and discussion of the reforms
that will most effectively and appropriately reduce California’s
prison population. March 10 is the pre-registration deadline.
Register
or learn more >>
May 12-15, 2008
Victim/Offender Education Group (VOEG) training
Location: San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo and San Quentin
The Insight Prison Project is offering a four-day intensive training
for professionals who want to learn how to facilitate the Victim Offender
Education Group (VOEG) program. Pioneered at San Quentin State Prison,
this 22-week program for prisoners teaches them to understand themselves
better, how their life experiences and decisions led them to prison,
and how their crimes have impacted their victim(s), their families,
their communities and themselves. CEUs available. Cost: $1,000. Registration
deposit of $150 due on April 1. Contact Rochelle Edwards, 415-419-3586,
rochelle@insightprisonproject.org
for information and registration.
Learn
about the Insight Prison Project >>
March 1, 2008
11th annual prayer service to end the death penalty
Time: Noon
Location: Religious Education Congress, Anaheim Convention Center, main
entrance
Join bishops, clergy, and lay people in prayer and reflection. Participants
will gather on the grass outside the main entrance (on Katella) to the
Anaheim Convention Center at noon to pray with Congress attendees during
their lunch hour. For more information, contact: Jan Urban 714-879-7663.
February 2008
February 22-24, 2008
Juvenile Justice Sabbath
Faith Communities for Families and Children (FCFC) invites you to raise
awareness in your parish about the needs of incarcerated children and
their families with prayer, service or action. FCFC is a multi-racial,
multi-ethnic, economically diverse coalition of faith based organizations
that provide support for and advocate on behalf of children and families
involved in Los Angeles County and California’s juvenile justice
system.
Learn about Juvenile Justice Sabbath and FCFC >>
January 2008
January 25, 2008
Rights, Needs, Power: The Victim in Criminal Justice
Location: Stanford Law School, Room 190
Time: 8:30am – 6:30pm
This Symposium will explore emerging and evolving issues for victims
of crime, including:
• Victims’ voices in mass violence prosecutions
• The central role of victims’ needs in Restorative Justice
practices
• Victims’ Rights Amendments and the current state of Victims’
Rights Law
• The effect of mandatory arrest policies on victim autonomy and
safety in domestic violence cases
January 17-20, 2008
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty annual conference
Location: San Jose Holiday Inn, 1740 N. 1st Street, San Jose, CA
Time to register for this annual nationwide gathering of anti-death
penalty activists. The 2008 conference theme is “Reaching for
the Dream.” Workshops, speakers and breakout sessions will
offer new ideas, new arguments, new strategies and ideas for building
alliances with new constituencies that will help us in reach “the
Dream.”
Conference details and registration >>
January 14-18, 2008 and February
25-29, 2008
Bartimaeus Institute offers justice studies
Location: Santa Barbara, CA and Oak View, CA
Mid-winter opportunities for pastors, organizers and students for intensive
study of scripture and social justice on the beautiful central California
coast. Space is limited, so register before December 14, 2007.
More
information and registration >>
January 10, 2008
Public hearings on the death penalty
Location: State Capitol Building, Room 4203, Sacramento, CA
Time: 9:30am – 12:30pm (tentative)
The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice (CCFAJ
will hold the first of three public hearings on the death penalty at
the state capitol. Hearings will address the flaws in California’s
death penalty system. Death Penalty Focus is encouraging the public
to attend the hearings to show the commissioners and the media that
a growing number of Californians reject the death penalty as a solution
to crime and violence. CCFAJ was created by the state senate in 2004
and will make recommendations to the governor and legislature in June
2008.
Learn
about Death Penalty Focus >>
Learn about CCFAJ
>>
December 2007
December 8-14, 2007
Prison Art Show Commemorating International Human Rights Day
Using coffee for paint, found scraps of paper and a brush made of his
own hair, Steven Ainsworth created beauty in the “hole”
(solitary confinement) of
Folsom Prison. His work and that of other prisoners will be exhibited
and sold to benefit the Unrepresented Death Row Prisoner Project (UDRPP).
The show is cosponsored by Loaves & Fishes, Death Penalty Focus
and the Unrepresented Death Row Prisoner Project
Location: Loaves & Fishes Delany Center, 401 North 12th Street,
Sacramento, CA
When: Saturday, December 8, 5-9pm - opening
Monday, December 10, 5:30-7pm - welcome reception and program
December 9-14, Noon-7pm - gallery open
More info: Georgia Lyga, 916-455-1796 or lygageorgiann@yahoo.com