Prison of Peace is a pro bono project that teaches life inmates to be peacemakers and mediators within their prison communities. It is currently operating in nine California prisons, four prisons in Greece, and one prison in Connecticut.Through Prison of Peace, incarcerated individuals are led through intensive workshops as they progress through the various program levels from Peacemaker to Certified Trainer, mastering the art of communication and conflict resolution, enabling them to create safer, more peaceful lives for themselves and others, in prison and beyond.
The following article is an interview with mediator and co-founder of the Prison of Peace project Douglas Noll. Doug, a former trial lawyer, is peer-rated as AV Preeminent, was honored as a California Lawyer of the Year and as Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America. Doug is an adjunct faculty member of the San Joaquin College of Law and adjunct faculty member of the Pepperdine School of Law Straus Institute. He also serves as a core faculty member of the American Institute of Mediation
How did the Prison of Peace project start?
The project started with a letter from an inmate at the old Valley State Prison for Women. She wrote 50 letters to mediators across California asking for someone to teach her Networking Group basic mediation skills. The Networking Group comprised 100 women serving life sentences. They were interested in reducing the violence and conflict in their prison community. At the time, Valley State Prison for Women was regarded as the largest, most dangerous women's prison in the world. The problem was that young women coming in from the gangs were disrupting daily lives. Most of the time, the guards could not prevent violence. The lifers realized that if they wanted peace, they had to create it themselves.
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