On transformative justice and convincing opposing witnesses to talk
One day in court, an independent witness of my client's alleged improper touching of another person declined to discuss the case at all. He was willing to talk about matters not involving the case, so I took that approach with him. I was riveted by this man's calm demeanor, and told him. He replied: “My grandmother was as calm as gently flowing waters. That always stayed with me” All of the sudden, this witness started talking with me about the case, to the point that he was almost talking about much more than I needed to know.
When complainants in criminal cases are reluctant to talk with the criminal defense lawyer, the restorative or transformative justice approach can be considered. Ex-federal drug inmate Fleet Maull — a great teacher whose dharma session I have attended— talks about going beyond the restorative justice approach to a?transformative justice?approach. He has said that transformative justice wants to look deeper into the behavior and ask “How did it arise?”, “What's happening in their background?” or “What kind of pain and suffering are they acting out of?”...
\