About MERJ

The Coalition's Story

In Spring of 2021, representatives from Maine’s restorative justice community first came together in solidarity to support a new bill: LD 1226: “Resolve, Directing the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations to Examine Restorative Justice.” Within the first couple of meetings, it became clear to the group that this gathering was filling a vacuum. Recognizing the collective need for connection, exchange, mutual support and advocacy that practitioners across the state were feeling, MERJ was formed.

LD 1226 passed in July of 2021. For the following 18 months, MERJ's members collaborated with the Permanent Commission in the national literature review on restorative justice legislation. Together, they conducted Participatory Community Action-based interviews of Maine stakeholders. Through this collective research, MERJ found possible next steps for the coalition. The following year MERJ reflected inward to define its structure, membership, and purpose once the research was complete.

Always considered a living document, these webpages are where we landed, and where we are now.

Credit: Adonis Papadopoulos for Fine Acts

Our Mission:

To establish and sustain

To establish and sustain restorative practices and principles across Maine through building resources, advocating for legislation, promoting education, and fostering cooperation among restorative justice practitioners. To uphold the integrity of restorative justice and transformative justice by ensuring that these practices remain held in and by community, and are accessible to all.

Our vision

To be voices

To be voices for healing, truth telling, and accountability, and is committed to building relationships and strengthening communities. MERJ seeks to transform Maine into a Restorative State where alternatives to punishment, carcerality and isolation are widely practiced and accessible. Through collective voices that actively champion healing, truth-telling, and accountability, we are passionately committed to building relationships and strengthening communities.

Credit: Rozalina Burkova for FNF x Fine Acts

Credit: Shadowschaser for Fine Acts

How we do it:

As a collective

As a collective of RJ practitioners, we work to actualize MERJ’s Vision through practice, education, advocacy, and systems change.

We strive to do this work with cultural awareness, meaning our practices are inclusive and respectful of the diversity of individuals and communities we serve. This is key to helping us understand power dynamics and other barriers that prevent us from doing this work in its full capacity ensures that

Why we do it:

Healing communities

To heal our communities suffering from intergenerational traumas caused by colonization, genocide, and racial violence which can only be repaired through relationships and connection. The Western systems of discipline and punishment governing Maine are not equipped to heal us, and instead keep community members disconnected. With its collective power, MERJ seeks to help heal these traumas by building restorative alternatives and co-creating spaces of community connection, accountability, and repair.

Credit: Hannah Moren

Land Acknowledgement

MERJ practices restorative justice in the state of Maine, the unceded homeland of the Wabanaki tribes, known as the Abenaki, Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot – the People of the Dawnland. MERJ acknowledges that restorative practices are a way of living and being in community that are derived from Indigenous traditions, globally. As advocates of restorative justice, MERJ recognizes and expresses gratitude to all Indigenous communities, past and present, from which these practices have been adopted. MERJ honors its obligation to uphold the integrity of these traditional practices with fidelity to their spirit and history.

Logo designed by Kage Johnson