Justice Track Highlights – Scott Bass

There are lots of highlights from the Justice Track or our inaugural Wild Goose Festival. The first for me is Vincent Harding!  What more can I say.  Large group talks and small group conversations with Harding were amazing.

Often the exploration of restorative justice and prison reform becomes focused on either the experience of victims of crime or offenders, but not both. It was important that the Justice Track offerings at the 2011 Wild Goose Festival took a “both/and” approach that valued the voices of victims of violent crime and the voices of persons intimately familiar with problems in our judicial and prison systems.

The “victims’ voices” panel included Jennifer Thompson, who has written and spoken widely on her experience of surviving a brutal rape and giving “absolutely positive” eyewitness identification that led to the conviction of an innocent man. Thompson told her heart-wrenching story and how her experience led her to become an advocate for ending the death penalty and other reforms of the legal system.  Joining Thompson was Therese Bartholomew, who told of her journey of healing following the shooting death of her brother Steve. Bartholomew’s path led her to meet face to face with the man who killed her brother and to making a documentary of her story – The Final Gift, scheduled for release in late 2011.  She advocates for restorative justice practices such as victim-offender meetings and victim impact panels in prisons, both of which she believes aid restoration of both victims and offenders.  Also on this panel was Ann Shepard, whose brother was convicted of murder and executed. Shepard represented the heart-breaking stories of families of offenders, who are ‘forgotten victims’ of violent crime.

Problems with and possibilities for improving our prison system were highlighted powerfully by prison chaplain Nancy Sehested, prisoner of conscience John Dear, prison reform advocates Joyce and Nelson Johnson, and ex-offender reentry specialist Dennis Gaddy.  This panel presented an intimate familiarity with racial and economic biases in our system and with problems of emphasizing being “tough on crime” but not necessarily smart on crime.  Gaddy brought a very practical “what each of us can do to help” ingredient to the panel.

All in all, I am grateful for what we were able to accomplish together in a few short days. Prison justice is often “the invisible issue” among many other worthy causes, and I’m glad we were able to delve into it and equip people to connect with people in need.

Stay tuned for Wild Goose Festival 2012 dates and location!

Scott Bass is a lifelong North Carolina resident. His experience includes working as a therapist with individuals and families whohave experienced traumatic loss as well as organizing in faith-based and other settings. He Since October 2009, Scott has served as North Carolina Coordinator for Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation (MVFR). MVFR’s members are murder victim family members who oppose the death penalty. Scott supports, equips and engages MVFR members and other victims of violence in speaking out about their experiences, their needs and their support for reforming and/or ending the death penalty as a part of educating elected officials, media professionals and the general public about harmful effects of the death penalty on families of victims and offenders.