Last semester I attended the Rose Cafe with Judge Miller and was impressed by his stories and the insight he offered into his work. Thus, I did not hesitate to return to hear him speak during this week’s Cafe.

Although some of the major themes he addressed previously–including not only judging a person based on one or two poor actions or characteristics– were invoked again during this iteration, he also provided another interesting  summation of what he views as the two major problems in America: the lack of universal health care and universal access to quality education. I appreciated that he spoke to the connection such structural inequities that people face as a result of the lack of education and healthcare and the justice system. For instance, he pointed out that some people willingly spending money on incarcerating individuals who might have made better decisions had they been given stronger educational opportunities as children for success outside of crime. Yet some of those people who willingly funnel money into the criminal justice system might also be opposed to increasing funding to education or supporting universal health care which would equip those traditionally disadvantaged people to lead healthier lives with more potential for positive growth.

Similarly, I thought his explanation and discussion of “restorative justice” were interesting. He explained that this meant making case decisions with the hopes of empowering victims and helping those who committed the crime learn from and grow out of their actions to strengthen the community.

I left this Rose Cafe with a deeper appreciation for the role judges have in exerting their influence and power to not simply feed into what I see as a flawed prison system.