Today on the podcast, Robin and Lester interview Douglas Ammar & Rami El Gharib of the Georgia Justice Project who focus on restorative justice.

Guest Bios

Douglas B. Ammar, 

Douglas B. Ammar has been an active presence at Georgia Justice Project (GJP) since

its beginning in 1986. Starting as a volunteer, then joining as a staff

attorney in 1990, Doug has led GJP as Executive Director since 1995. During his time as Executive Director, GJP has help change 21 laws in

Georgia that have worked to reduce barriers to reentry for people impacted

by the criminal justice system. 

Originally from Charleston, West Virginia, Doug earned a bachelor’s degree in History from Davidson College in 1984, and then a law degree from Washington and Lee University in 1989.

Rami El Gharib 

Rami recently joined Georgia Justice Project (GJP) as the

organization’s first Restorative Justice Program Manager. Rami comes to GJP as

an accomplished Restorative Justice practitioner with several years of experience.

In his current role, Rami supports GJP in efforts to build Georgia’s first restorative

justice program taking referrals of felony cases involving adults, or youth who are

tried as adults. The program, Restorative Justice Georgia, is partnering with local

District Attorney offices in the Metro Atlanta area.

Before his role at GJP, Rami facilitated juvenile violent crime Restorative

Conferences and Victim Offender Dialogues in Colorado and Connecticut. He has

also facilitated Restorative Justice processes for adults within the Colorado justice system. Additionally, Rami is the founder of the Restorative Rainbow Alliance,

which aims to introduce a LGBTQ+ lens into the field of Restorative Justice by

providing extra care for LGBTQ+ victims of hate crimes and assisting facilitators

in understanding the extra levels of harm that LGBTQ+ individuals may face.

Rami is also the founder of The Space, an LGBTQ+ youth safe space in Colorado

that utilizes Restorative Circles to assess the needs of LGBTQ+ youth in the

Region.

Originally from Lebanon, Rami received his undergraduate degree in Psychology

from the American University of Beirut in 2017, and his Master’s in

Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of New Haven in 2020.

Links:

Georgia Justice Project - Transforming Our Community (gjp.org)

http://www.akintate.com/

https://www.gatriallawyers.net/

See You In Court Website

To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org