Restorative justice resolves alleged assault at Indiana lake

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A judge says restorative justice was successfully used for one of the first times in Indiana to remediate a confrontation in which a Black man said a group of white men assaulted him and threatened to “get a noose” while at a southern Indiana lake more than a year ago. The alleged assault gained national attention in July 2020 when Vauhxx Booker, a local civil rights activist and member of the Monroe County Human Rights Commission, said he called 911 after five men assaulted him and pinned him to a tree at Lake Monroe, just south of Bloomington. Judge Lance Hamner, who presided over the case, said it was the first time he’s seen a criminal case resolved through restorative justice.