Why We Need to Rise Together | Judge Victoria Pratt
Good Life Project
Jonathan Fields / Acast
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 26 February 2019
⏱️ 71 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Growing up outside Newark, NJ, the daughter of a first-generation mom from the Dominican Republic and a dad who grew up going back and forth between Harlem and the Deep South, Judge Victoria Pratt (https://judgevictoriapratt.com/) found herself in the role of translator, advocate and champion at a very young age. That deep desire to serve at the sweet-spot between justice and humanity never left her.
Rising up through government and educational institutions, she eventually became a judge, but not your ordinary judge. For her, it was all about serving the broader humanity and needs of both those who appeared in her courtroom, as well as those who were affected in the community. Judge Pratt gained acclaim as a champion for criminal justice reform in her Newark courtroom, worked with jurisdictions across the US, and as far as Dubai, Ukraine, Mexico and England. Her TED Talk, How Judges Can Show Respect, went viral.
Now a leading voice in criminal justice reform through her consulting firm Pratt Lucien Consultants, Judge Pratt speaks to corporate and organizational leaders about restoring respect to their processes. At the heart of it all is a call-to-action to elevate the humanity and dignity of all people and focus more on restoration and rehabilitation than punishment.
In today's conversation, we explore Judge Pratt's early childhood, the experiences and moments that shaped her, as well as the powerful moments and exercises that transformed her courtroom into a place not only of justice but of reclamation and an awakening to potential and responsibility.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Growing up outside of New York, New Jersey, the daughter of a first-generation mom from |
| 0:07.6 | the Dominican Republic and a dad to kind of grew up going back and forth between Harlem |
| 0:11.6 | and the Deep South, my guest today, Judge Victoria Pratt, found herself kind of in the |
| 0:16.0 | role of translator, advocate, and champion at a very young age, and that deep desire to |
| 0:22.0 | serve at the sweet spot between justice and humanity never really left her. |
| 0:27.6 | Rising up through the government and educational institutions, she became a judge, |
| 0:32.3 | but not just your ordinary judge. For her, it was all about serving the broader humanity and needs |
| 0:38.1 | of both those who appeared in her courtroom as well as those who were affected in the community. |
| 0:43.3 | And Judge Pratt gained a claim as a champion for criminal justice reform in that Newark court |
| 0:49.6 | room worked with jurisdictions now across the US as far as Dubai, Ukraine, Mexico, England. |
| 0:55.6 | She did a TED Talk and kind of really deepening into her philosophy called how judges can show |
| 1:00.5 | respect that went viral. And she's now a leading voice in criminal justice reform through |
| 1:05.1 | her consulting firm Pratt Luzian Consultants. I sat down with Judge Pratt and we explored |
| 1:11.1 | sort of the moments in her early childhood, the experiences that really shaped her as well as |
| 1:16.0 | the powerful moments and exercises that she brought to her courtroom that would profoundly transform |
| 1:24.3 | the way that everybody experienced it. She turned it into a place not just where violations of laws |
| 1:30.6 | are prosecuted, but where human beings who had so often been unseen, unrecognized, unheard by |
| 1:36.4 | almost everybody else were seen, heard, validated and not just punished, but given a space to be served, |
| 1:43.5 | to be restored, to be rehabilitated and to create solutions that not just helped them, but also |
| 1:50.4 | helped the society that they would eventually return to. Really powerful moving conversation |
| 1:56.0 | cannot wait to share it with you. I'm Jonathan Fields and this is Good Life Project. |
| 2:07.2 | Life, have you ever noticed that just as it's calm along comes a little chaos? |
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