Ruth Morris
| Ruth Rittenhouse Morris | |
|---|---|
| Born |
12 December 1933. United States |
| Died | 17 September 2001 (aged 67) |
| Occupation | Advocate of transformative justice and the abolition of prisons |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Canadian |
Ruth Rittenhouse Morris, CM (12 December 1933 – September 17, 2001) was a Canadian author and legal reformer.
Ruth Morris was one of the world’s leading spokespersons for prison abolition and healing justice. Her activism for peace, racial justice, and antipoverty causes led her naturally into the issues of our penal system. Ruth Morris was an active member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and was the Coordinator of the Canadian Friends' Service Committee in Toronto from 1975-1978. She played an active part in the Quaker Committee on Jails and Justice, which helped Canadian Quakers become the first religious body in the world to endorse prison abolition (by consensus). Ruth Morris was also a founder of the International Conference on Prison Abolition, which continues to this day.
Ruth Morris had a hand in establishing many groups and networks, including: My Brother’s Place (a halfway house), Toronto Justice Council, St. Stephen’s Conflict Resolution Service, the Corner (drop-in for street people), Toronto Bail Program, the Coalition Against Neighborhoodism, and the Black Creek Anti-Drug Focus Coalition. She received many awards, including a Service to the Homeless Award from the Ontario Government (1987); Prison Volunteer of the Year (1987); a Governor General’s Award for her community work (1993); the Addiction Research Foundation community-building award (1995); the YMCA Peace Medallion (1998); the Ron Wiebe Restorative Justice Award (2000); the J.S. Woodsworth Award for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (2000); and, the year she died, the Order of Canada (2001).
She was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada ( May 30, 2001). The citation reads as follows:
She is a model for those who seek to serve others. A longtime advocate for justice reform, at the request of the Ontario government, she founded a groundbreaking program which made it possible for many to receive bail who would not have previously qualified. She also founded Toronto's first bail residence, as well as a halfway house for ex-offenders. Generous with her time and resources, she used her caring and dynamism to launch many other innovations in Toronto. These include a community project aimed at improving banking services for disadvantaged citizens, a drop-in centre for street people and a multicultural, multilingual conflict resolution service.
Despite her many awards, Ruth Morris also considered her failures as important as her successes, and was proud of her two firings from justice system jobs for her human rights stands (discussed in her book Transcending Trauma), and of having continued her career more effectively beyond these traumatic experiences. Ruth Morris also founded Rittenhouse: A New Vision, an agency dedicated to public education for transformative justice.
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