Vermont's only women's prison has had restorative justice classes for the past three years. It’s a process that focuses on the offender repairing the harm caused by their actions, and uses dialogue and empathy rather than punishment.
Last year, a retired University of Vermont professor got incarcerated women set up to run the class themselves.
Vermont Department of Corrections officials say the class is an effort to give incarcerated women tools to navigate conflicts — and hopefully stay out of prison when they eventually leave.
This interview was produced for the ear. We highly recommend listening to the audio. We’ve also provided a transcript, which has been edited for length and clarity.
Mae Nagusky: I’m at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility sitting in a well-lit, pretty big room, in a metal and plastic chair, surrounded by about 15 incarcerated people. Most of the people have a drink — water, soda, chocolate milk — and about five of them have their notebook with them.
Each class starts with a question.
Speaker: OK, our question today is one thing that is different about yourself since you got here.
Mae Nagusky: The class meets every Monday for an hour. The curriculum includes readings and group discussions surrounding hypothetical situations. One example was, "Let's say your cellmate was smoking cigarettes. How are you going to respond?”
Through these conversations, the women learn new restorative justice concepts and navigate nuanced problems together.
Speaker 3: Hurt people hurt people.
Amanda Conant: I love that. “Hurt people hurt people.” I really like that.
Mae Nagusky: One aspect of restorative justice is about people examining how their actions caused harm, and taking responsibility for what they did.
Speaker 3: Because I can't ask for help because I don't know how to. So me acting out is asking for help.
Amanda Conant: I think you recognizing that is huge, because I know in the beginning, like before the class started, you were having a little bit of trouble, but I have seen so much growth in you throughout this class, and it’s not just because of the class — you as a person, so kudos to you.
Mae Nagusky: This is Amanda Conant, the incarcerated woman leading the class.
Amanda Conant: This is the third class that I've done. I see the changes it has in people. I see the change in myself.
Mae Nagusky: Conant is in her 30s, has big blue eyes and a gentle nature to her. She’s been incarcerated at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility for about a year. She’s a bit tentative when she speaks — perhaps that’s just the softness of her voice — but it’s clear she believes in the things she says and cares a lot about the class.
Amanda Conant: I really hope that you guys take everything that you've learned here, and you do, you take it back to your unit, you take it home, you keep it for yourself. You have to, you have to decide whether to be restorative. No one can tell you to be restorative. That comes from within you.
Mae Nagusky: Conant is a leader. She constantly held the space for other people to speak and continuously refocused the class when they got off track — and did it all with comfort, ease and respect. Before she was incarcerated, she was homeless and an addict. She says leading these classes has given her purpose.
Amanda Conant: It makes me reflect a lot on myself, because I don't want to say the wrong thing, I don't want to guide them in the wrong direction. But it also makes me have that extra bit of integrity, like, do what's right when no one's watching. Because I am a leader. … I never really wanted to be a teacher, but now that I'm doing it, I love it, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Kassandra Medellin-Oliver: I like the fact that my peers teach it.
Mae Nagusky: This is one of the students in the class, Kassandra Medellin-Oliver.
Kassandra Medellin-Oliver: Whereas if the COs were teaching it or their superintendent it’s like, you've never been in my shoes.
Mae Nagusky: Medellin-Oliver has three children, a husband and a dog. She’s outgoing, talkative and always funny. She’s also passionate and faces conflict head on.
Medellin-Oliver says she initially signed up for the class because she thought it might make her look good at an upcoming court date. But it’s become much more than that.
Kassandra Medellin-Oliver: This restorative justice helped me realize that, like, my crimes did not go victimless. It did become mental. Like I was like, "Damn, I really hurt some lives." Now, this couple of months that I've been has changed my life. Like, my whole thought process on when I go home is different.
Mae Nagusky: On the day I visited, the last thing they did in their class was write an apology letter.
Amanda Conant: You can write it to your kids. You can write it to your mom. You can write it to yourself. You know, take what you've learned in the movie, take what you’ve learned throughout the class, how you feel. And, you know, just put it in the letter.
Mae Nagusky: There’s a lot of pressure that comes with leading a class, but Conant prefers it that way.
Amanda Conant: The one thing that has made me heal is helping other people. ... I do better when I have people counting on me and depending on me. When I was on the outside and I was using, I was very isolated. I kept away from my family. But, I have people that do look up to me and that, that helps me so much.
I feel like in order to heal on the outside, I need to do the same thing. I need to help other people who are struggling. Helping other people really heals, you know, you within.
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