Midwest Peacemaking Conference slated for June 8-10 in Manistee

The Midwest Peacemaking Conference, open to all professionals seeking to obtain a better understanding of peacemaking, restorative justice and alternative dispute resolution, will be held June 8-10 at the Little River Casino Resort in Manistee, hosted by the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians.

Presenters include attorney Susan Butterwick, a State Court Administrative Office (SCAO) approved mediation trainer who has taught mediation courses at Cooley Law School, University of Detroit Mercy Law School, and Wayne State University Law School; state court Judge Timothy Connors, Judge Pro Tem for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, presiding judge of the Washtenaw County Peacemaking Court, and a judge in the Washtenaw County Trial Court and in the Juvenile Court; Belinda Dulin, executive director of The Dispute Resolution Center in Ann Arbor; Michael Petoskey, Chief Judge of the Pokagon Band and recipient of the “Nelson Mandela Peacemaking Award” by the Washtenaw County Bar Association; Brett Lee Shelton, staff attorney at the Native American Rights Fund; Jason Smith, Youth Justice Policy Associate at the Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency (MCCD); Kristen Staley, Deputy Director of the MCCD; Joan Vestrand, Associate Dean, WMU-Cooley Law School; Shawn Watts, associate director of the Mediation Clinic at Columbia Law School; and Rob Wyman, co-director of the Court Improvement Training Academy (CITA) at The University of Washington School of Law.

Topics include “Listening and Talking: The Core of Conflict Resolution”; “Putting Peacemaking in Context – Building the Foundation for Court Systems to Engage the Peacemaking Process”; “Advancing Restorative Communities”; “Native Worldview and Its Significance for the Development of Native Justice Tools and Systems that Reflect Who We Are as Native People”; “A Better Way: Empowering Our Youth to Build Character and School Community”; “Institutionalizing Peacemaking in State Courts”; “Peacemaking in Public Schools”; and “The Native American Rights Fund Indigenous Peacemaking Initiative”.”

The cost per person is $350. For detailed information and to register for the conference, visit http://littlerivermpc.wix.com/peacemaking.