Judge Alex Calabrese is the presiding judge at the Red Hook Community Justice Center, a multi-jurisdictional community court that opened its doors in 2000 in a renovated parochial school in southwest Brooklyn. Recently, he sat down with Center staff to discuss his work in the court.
Judge Ruben Martino presides over the multi-jurisdictional courtroom that handles both housing and juvenile delinquency cases at the Harlem Community Justice Center. Carolyn Turgeon from the Center for Court Innovation sat down to talk with him about juvenile justice.
Judge Matthew J. D'Emic presides over the Brooklyn Mental Health Court, which works with approximately 100 felony and misdemeanor defendants each year. D’Emic is a graduate of Fordham University and Brooklyn Law School. In June 2004, Carolyn Turgeon from the Center for Court Innovation sat down to talk with D’Emic about the court’s first two years.
The Harlem Parole Reentry Court, a component of the Harlem Community Justice Center, helps parolees from the Harlem community who have been imprisoned for non-violent, drug-related offenses make the transition from life in prison to responsible citizenship.
As Chief Community Prosecutor of the Fulton County District Attorney's Office from 2001 until 2005, Wanda Dallas acquired a wealth of first-hand knowledge about solving neighborhood problems. Perhaps the most important lesson she learned is about how to engage the community—a critical feature of any community prosecution program and one whose importance was underscored for her when the community protested the seizure of a drug house. She talked about that particular experience and others with Robert V.
Roxann Pais was appointed to be Dallas’s chief community prosecutor in 2001. Carolyn Turgeon from the Center for Court Innovation talked with Pais about the unique contributions her office has made to the field of community prosecution.
Yvonne Smith Segars was a member of the founding team of the Essex County Drug Court, which opened in May 1997, and was sworn into office as the New Jersey Public Defender in 2002. Here she talks about the development of drug courts in New Jersey and about the defense bar’s attitudes towards problem-solving courts.
Deborah Kendrick is the community mediation coordinator at the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Deborah came to the Mediation Center in October 2002 as a volunteer with AmeriCorps, a national program that engages more than 50,000 Americans each year in community service projects. Deborah sat down with Carolyn Turgeon of the Center for Court Innovation to discuss her training, experiences and the challenges she faces as a mediator.
The tribal drug court movement has grown quickly; today there are about 50 tribal drug courts in the United States. Chico Gallegos, associate director of the Native American Alliance Foundation, talks here about the differences between state and tribal drug courts, as well as the challenges ahead.
Gerianne Abriano has been Bureau Chief for the Kings County District Attorney's office at the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Brooklyn, New York, since March of 2001 and, before that, spent two years as a prosecutor in the Brooklyn Treatment Court. Abriano sat down with the Center for Court Innovation's Carolyn Turgeon to talk about her experiences.
