Reflecting on Teshuvah, Reparations, and Justice: A Conversation with Judge Everett Mitchell
As we reflect on our personal and communal wrongdoings on Yom Kippur, we focus on doing teshuvah: turning towards our best selves, seeking forgiveness from those we have harmed, and turning back when we have strayed from justice. The Honorable Reverend Everett Mitchell will speak on his work in Dane County as a judge, the pastor of Christ the Solid Rock Baptist Church, and a fierce advocate for equity. He will help us to see the underbelly of our legal system and how reparations can be an act of collective teshuvah.
Judge Mitchell was elected in 2016 to the Dane County Circuit Court as a juvenile court judge and presides over cases involving family reunification, juvenile delinquency, and other civil and criminal proceedings. He has worked with colleagues to change courtroom policies to reflect trauma informed practices, such as removing restraints and handcuffs on youth during hearings. In 2011 Judge Mitchell became the Senior Pastor of Christ the Solid Rock Baptist Church. In 2015, he became the first pastor of a black Baptist church in the state of Wisconsin to marry a same sex couple inside of the church. Judge Mitchell led the congregation into a formal alliance with a majority white congregation so that both congregations can be intentional about dismantling the racial barriers that make Sunday morning “…the most segregated hour in America.”
Before being elected to the bench, Judge Mitchell served as Director of Community Relations for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He worked as Assistant District Attorney in Dane County and served as associate director of the Madison Area Urban Ministry (MUM) from 2004-2010 where he worked extensively with restorative justice programs for ex-offenders. Judge Mitchell earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and religious studies from Morehouse College in 2000, a master of divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2003, a master of theology from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2004, and a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School in 2010.