SOUTH ROYALTON, Vt. (AP) - Vermont Law School received a $3 million federal grant to establish a national center examining ways to advance restorative justice education.
Dean and President Thomas McHenry said the South Royalton school is the only law school in the country that awards a master’s degree in restorative justice, a practice in which people take responsibility for their actions and try to make amends with their victims.
The National Center on Restorative Justice will evaluate how restorative justice is taught at the graduate level and what improvements can be made, the Valley News reported Sunday.
The center will be run in collaboration with the University of Vermont, the University of San Diego and the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs.
Bobby Sand, former Windsor County State’s attorney and the center’s founder, said the school will also partner with the Community College of Vermont in Winooski to study how people in drug or mental health court can receive a secondary education.
“The ultimate goal is to help change criminal justice policy in this country,” said Sand.
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