SOUTH ROYALTON — Vermont Law School has received a second significant federal grant to help its National Center on Restorative Justice expand its focus on reforming criminal justice policy.
U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., earlier this week said the center at the South Royalton-based school, along with the University of Vermont and the University of San Diego, which are partners in the effort, had won another $3 million grant from the Department of Justice.
“Prison reform cannot just mean changing how we house offenders. We need to rethink our approach to the entire justice system,” Leahy said in a news release. “The National Center on Restorative Justice is leading a national discussion on how we can effectively and proactively implement restorative justice initiatives that support our communities, as well as our incarcerated population.”
The grant comes on top of an initial $3 million from Washington to help launch the center announced last year.
VLS officials have said restorative justice includes having offenders take responsibility for their actions, address the underlying causes and perhaps pay a fine, rather than face charges for certain crimes.
VLS said the money will be used to expand access to education about restorative justice, provide some training to law enforcement officials and communities that might benefit from the program, and conduct more research in the field.