Restorative justice has gained ascendancy within both judicial systems and educational settings through which court-involved youth are resocialized as part of reintegration intervention. This article explores the conflict over collective representation at the intersections among public education, criminal justice, and restorative intervention. The author argues that restorative intervention must attempt to broaden its cultural reach and implicate the countercultural realities that exist at the margins of society and at the interstices of its own praxis. [restorative justice, conflict resolution, urban education; minority youth] Setting the Scene: New Horizons High SchoolThe main research site upon which this article builds constituted one of numerous educational institutions throughout the United States experimenting with restorative bs_bs_banner