T. Richard Snyder

T. Richard Snyder, Ph.D., retired with his wife, Cassie, to their home in Northport, in 2001 following a long career as Professor of Theology and Ethics and Academic Dean at New York Theological Seminary. While at NYTS, Dick taught prisoners in the seminary’s Master’s program at Sing Sing Prison, which opened his eyes to the futility of our current approach to Corrections, including the waste of lives and money. Following this Dick was awarded a grant by the Lily Foundation to conduct research on alternatives to the criminal justice system in South Africa and Sweden, as well as the United States. His book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Punishment (Eerdman’s, 2001) is a critique of the punitive mentality underlying our nation’s criminal justice system and sets forth restorative justice as a more just alternative.

Shortly after moving to Maine year-round, Dick became a member of the Board of the Maine Council of Churches and co-chair of its Criminal Justice Committee and later, its Restorative Justice Committee. In early 2003, Dick began conversations with Sheriff Scott Story about the possibility of starting a restorative justice program in Waldo County and, shortly thereafter, members of the Social Justice Committee of the UU Church of Belfast and other interested individuals joined in this effort. Those conversations soon led to the formation of a small steering committee that he chaired and by 2004 plans for the Restorative Justice Project of the Midcoast were firmly in place. Since its incorporation as a non-profit organization in 2005, Dick has served as the chair of the Board of Directors.

He is the author of several other books and numerous articles related to social justice and has lectured and preached throughout the world. He acknowledges that he flunked retirement, having agreed in July of 2009 to serve as Academic Dean of Bangor Theological Seminary.