Since the first community court was created in 1993, a generation of judges, lawyers, and court staff have developed new strategies for working with those charged with low-level crimes. In this report, Brett Taylor shares lessons he learned first-hand from his years working as a defense attorney at the Red Hook Community Justice Center and helping other jurisdictions adapt the community courts model.
This report documents the bail payment process in New York City courts and correctional facilities and provides 17 recommendations to improve practices. Based on these recommendations, the city is implementing a number of solutions detailedhere.
An addendum to the Center’s Creating a Domestic Violence Court planning toolkit, this document focuses on enhancing the collaboration between courts handling domestic violence cases and supervised visitation and exchange programs. Offering a comprehensive step-by-step process, the addendum advises court staff and stakeholders on creating an effective relationship with supervised visitation centers or improving an existing one.
In this New Thinking podcast, Reuben J. Miller, assistant professor of social work at the University of Michigan, and his research collaborator Hazelette Crosby-Robinson discuss some of the criticisms that have been leveled against risk assessment tools. Those criticisms include placing too much emphasis on geography and criminal history, which can distort the actual risk for clients from neighborhoods that experience an above-average presence of policing and social services.
In January 2016, jail reduction and victim advocates discussed strategies for including the voices of survivors of crime in implementing pretrial supervised release programs. This document highlights the far-reaching and complicated discussion.
Learn about ways state drug court coordinators can support local drug court programs in ensuring that they are good consumers of treatment services and promoting the use of best practices by treatment and related providers.
This fact sheet addresses the challenges and opportunities that arise from sentencing reform, outlining the ways in which technical assistance can help drug courts assess and respond to these changes.
This fact sheet briefly describes Midtown Community Court's use of meaningful and visible community restitution projects in lieu of incarceration or fines. The focus is on projects undertaken in partnership with local residents, businesses, and criminal justice agencies, and on helping defendants reintegrate into the community.
Mike Lawlor, Connecticut's under secretary for Criminal Justice Policy and Planning, discusses Governor Dannel P. Malloy's Second Chance Society, a series of justice reforms (including dramatic changes to bail and juvenile justice policies) that seek to reduce crime, lower spending on prisons, and help rebuild relationships between criminal justice professionals and the communities they serve.
This podcast is part of a series highlighting innovative approaches to reducing violence and improving health outcomes among at-risk minority youth at the Minority Youth Violence Prevention Initiative.