HISTORY OF WJC
WJC was founded in 1987 by a group of judges, lawyers, and civic leaders led by the Honorable Dorothy W. Nelson, senior judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. WJC’s founding members sought innovative ways to handle conflict by using alternative dispute resolution techniques in and beyond the court system. Their aim was for WJC to serve as a thought leader, convener, and capacity builder in the field of conflict resolution education.
In recent decades, WJC has created a range of programs designed to reduce violence threatening students in school and community settings. These activities include: running and supporting peer mediation programs throughout the Greater Los Angeles Area, teaching conflict resolution skills to young parents through First 5 LA, facilitating community forums with local law enforcement, convening a Youth Mediation Summit for the City of Los Angeles, and creating School Tools, an interactive online resource for conflict resolution education geared toward grades 4-12.
In 2020, WJC enters a transformational new chapter of our history in which we will build on our roots in conflict resolution. We commit to advancing the use of restorative practices in our schools and to empowering youth to become agents of change in our communities. Through that work, we commit to addressing the disparate impact that traditional school disciplinary methods have on students of color; the increasing propensity of youth to respond to bullying, bias, and neglect by harming themselves or others; and, the negative impact of these combined ills on long-term behavioral and mental health outcomes. We make this decision with respect and humility for our place in a larger movement that is striving to move our society away from destructive methods of punishment and toward constructive investments in youth and community development.
WJC is energized by this new direction and dedicated to successful implementation of this strategic plan through which we build on the vision of our founders: That conflict resolution education can and should play a critical role in the creation of a more just, equitable, and peaceful society.
ABOUT OUR FOUNDER
The story of Western Justice Center is intertwined with that of its founder, the Honorable Dorothy W. Nelson. Judge Nelson began implementing her vision for a more just and peaceful world, one achieved with the help of law, first as a young lawyer and then as professor. In 1969, Judge Nelson became the first woman dean of a major American law school, the University of Southern California Law School, where she trained future lawyers in restorative justice and the use of mediation as an alternative to litigation.
When President Jimmy Carter appointed Judge Nelson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1979, she continued her trailblazing approach, initiating one of the first mediation programs for a federal appellate court. She also looked at a group of abandoned buildings next door to the court and envisioned a place where non-profit organizations could support the advancement of conflict resolution education and develop programs to empower and support youth. In 1987, the Western Justice Center was founded to carry out that vision.
Judge Nelson’s idea that people in the legal community could collaboratively resolve conflicts instead of taking them to trial caught on. Soon, the model spread nationally and internationally as alternative dispute resolution became a staple of the U.S. justice system. That same idea, that conflicts can and should be resolved collaboratively, is taking hold in schools and communities on a widespread basis.
WJC is proud to be part of this unfolding story.