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Seigle, Diann

Seigle,, Jeff, JD

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Thirty-Fifth Annual Hooding and Graduation Ceremony (2013)

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Avoiding Wonderland: Clarifying Marriage Requirements in North Carolina

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Powell, Jon

Campbell Law Review
Volume 35
Issue 3 Symposium 2013 Article 1
2013
Improving the Human Condition
Jon Powell
Campbell University School of Law
Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.campbell.edu/clr
This Foreword is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarly Repository @ Campbell University School of Law. It has been accepted for
inclusion in Campbell Law Review by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Repository @ Campbell University School of Law.
Recommended Citation
Jon Powell, Improving the Human Condition, 35 Campbell L. Rev. 283 (2014).
Campbell Law Review
Volume 35 Spring 2013 Number 3
Improving the Human Condition
I recently attended a roundtable discussion at North Carolina Central
University on the topic of Restorative Justice. The meeting convener, who
is the chair of the department of Social Work, started the meeting by
introducing herself and then uttering these words: "The point of all we do
in the school of social work is to improve the human condition."
My immediate thought was that improving the human condition
should also be the point of our work as lawyers and as professors who are
molding the next generation of lawyers. No one has a better opportunity to
improve the human condition than lawyers. Conversely, no one has a
better opportunity to make a mess of it either.
The organizers of this year's Campbell Law Review symposium
recognize that we have great opportunity to improve the human condition
in our profession. For this reason, they looked toward a higher and nobler
calling for lawyers-a calling that humanizes clients and looks for methods
to address thorny issues in a way that can bring healing to human beings.
Imagine that-lawyers leading the way in the healing process.
As a criminal defense attorney, I was often frustrated with my
inability and the inability of the system I worked in to bring healing to
people who had been injured by crime. It was this frustration that led me to
explore ways to bring people together so that they could share their pain,
their needs, and their stories in powerful ways. From these stories, they
could explore ways to address the harm caused by criminal behavior. I
later learned there is a name for this practice: Restorative Justice.
Restorative Justice differs from our traditional system of criminal
justice in several significant ways. One of those ways is focusing on the
harm rather than on the offender. Another of those ways is solving the
problem by addressing the needs of those who have been injured rather
than by punishing the offender. It gives voices to victims, and it allows
offenders to hold themselves accountable. Ultimately, it helps to create
stronger people and better communities.
283
1
Powell: Improving the Human Condition
Published by Scholarly Repository @ Campbell University School of Law, 2014
CAMPBELL LAW REVIEW
At Campbell Law School, one of the ways students learn to improve
the human condition is through the Juvenile Justice Project. The JJP is a
clinical program of the law school in which law students learn to facilitate
dialogues between victims and offenders, as well as between students in
public schools, who experience conflict with each other that would
typically lead to office referrals, suspensions, and sometimes arrest. Law
students lead participants in discussions to discover what and why a bad
thing happened, how people were affected, and how those people can work
together to try to make things right.
Our work focuses on the actions of juveniles, but Restorative Justice
reaches further than that. One of my first exposures to Restorative Justice
during my training as a facilitator was through a documentary about Linda
White. Linda met with Gary Brown, who had kidnapped, raped, and
murdered Linda's daughter. Linda went through a Restorative Justice
process and eventually met with Gary while he was serving a fifty-four
year sentence in a Texas prison. I thought, then, that the meeting was one
of the most powerful things I had ever seen, and I knew I wanted to be a
part of that process. When I watch it now, I still marvel at the magnitude
of the human spirit to do remarkable things when given the space and time.
That same remarkable human spirit was on display during the last
panel of the Law Review symposium when Andy and Kate Grosmaire,
Michael and Julie McBride, Sujatha Baliga, and Howard Zehr took the
stage to tell a story of terrible human tragedy and the miraculous human
capabilities of love and forgiveness. Tears filled my eyes as Andy
described looking down at his daughter Ann as she was holding onto the
last fragments of life; he said that he could not distinguish between where
Ann ended and Christ began. He had both a very human and very divine
moment. He was able to let go of his daughter because he knew he was
passing her into the arms of Jesus.
That same human and miraculous spirit came together again as Andy
and Kate decided that they could not be satisfied with a traditional and
expected criminal sentence-one that would have simply put Conor away
for the rest of his life. They saw such a sentence as a waste because they
believed Conor now had an obligation to live for two people-not just for
himself but also for the life that was lost. The story that followed about
how they met with Conor, his parents, the attorneys, and the facilitator is
the story of Restorative Justice. In the end, the Grosmaires did not get all
they wanted, but they came close. Because the prosecutor listened to their
needs, because all the people affected had the ability and courage to sit
down with each other, and because they were willing to "become human"
284 [Vol. 35:283
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Campbell Law Review, Vol. 35, Iss. 3 [2014], Art. 1
http://scholarship.law.campbell.edu/clr/vol35/iss3/1
to each other, all benefited. In a letter written by Conor after the process,
he wrote:
During the victim/offender circle, I heard in intimate detail from the parents
of the victim all the pain I had caused. Ann's parents did not spare me.
They told me of their hurt and sorrow over the loss of their daughter, and so
the harsh reality of my crime was impressed upon me. I then had to tell the
events of the shooting to Ann's parents-the people affected most. It was
one of the hardest things I have ever done. There was no avoiding the fact
that I was responsible. The truth was there was no one to blame but
myself. This was especially true because the circle allowed me to see the
prosecutor not as an enemy but as a man doing his job. He was not out to
get me as so many defendants feel, including myself prior to the circle, but
he was fulfilling his duty to protect society. I could not hide and imagine
myself the victim of the system; my pain was nothing compared to that of
Ann's parents, let alone Ann's, and the State hated my crime, not me. So,
the responsibility, the blame, and the shame were mine and mine alone. I
was able to accept that because Restorative Justice saw me as a person who
messed up. I had made a terrible mistake, and I needed to improve myself;
also, I needed to give back to the community I had harmed. Thus, I was
not sentenced to life, but rather I have an opportunity to do right and make
amends. Restorative Justice has given me the hope, the means, and the
self-awareness to better myself and help others to prevent this from ever
happening again.
Conor is currently serving a twenty-year sentence for his crime. Upon
his release, the Grosmaires, the McBrides, and the community expect
Conor to give back and begin living the life of two. The Grosmaires and
McBrides have received a measure of healing that could not have been
experienced in the traditional system. The community of Tallahassee was
supportive of the process. Lawyers played a pivotal role, and the human
condition has been improved.
2013] FOREWORD 285
3
Powell: Improving the Human Condition
Published by Scholarly Repository @ Campbell University School of Law, 2014
CAMPBELL LAW REVIEW
And thus was the aim of the Law Review symposium titled "The
Virtuous Lawyer: Seeking Justice and the Common Good." As was said in
the introductory and concluding remarks that day, the presenters and the
works presented in this issue set out to explore the ways in which the law
can bring about healing. Whether it comes through Collaborative Law
practices with medical error or in Restorative Justice practices with crimes,
a lawyer wields the power to bring healing-as the servant to his client and
as the healer for both the individual and the community.
Jon Powell*
Jon Powell is the Director of the Juvenile Justice Project at Campbell University
School of Law.
286 [Vol. 35:283
4
Campbell Law Review, Vol. 35, Iss. 3 [2014], Art. 1
http://scholarship.law.campbell.edu/clr/vol35/iss3/1


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Morning Presentations and Panel Discussion: Shifting Paradigms: The IACT Program, Alternative Dispute Resolution, & Collaborative Law

Thirty-Fifth Annual Hooding and Graduation Ceremony (2013)

Avoiding Wonderland: Clarifying Marriage Requirements in North Carolina

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Improving the Human Condition

The Anti-Fraud Provisions of the North Carolina Securities Act

North Carolina Bids Goodbye (Again) to the Rule in Dumpor\u27s Case

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