LawPulse

Chicago is one of 10 grant awardees nationwide for a DOJ project to fund pilot neighborhood-focused courts that bring offenders and victims together to resolve disputes.

The Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance recently announced that it had awarded $2 million to the Center for Court Innovation ("Center") to fund 10 community courts around the United States. The Circuit Court of Cook County was one of the sites selected.

According to a press release issued by Chief Cook County Circuit Judge Timothy C. Evans, the Restorative Justice Community Court's mission will be to "empower[] victims and residents to play an active role in the rehabilitation of adult offenders who commit certain nonviolent crimes" (http://bit.ly/1VUTVnd).

As part of the award, the court will receive $200,000 and technical assistance from the Center, a non-profit that seeks to create a more effective and humane justice system. It conducts research and designs and implements operational programs like the community court project.

The courts are neighborhood-focused courts that attempt to address local problems via the justice system. The community court model has seen significant growth since its inception in 1993. According to a Department of Justice report, "Community courts grow out of frustration. Observers have noted that justice has grown remote from communities and the people who live in them" (www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/bja/183452.pdf).

The first community court was established in New York and was focused on Midtown Manhattan. Many other community courts also take this neighborhood-focused approach. According to the DOJ, each court is uniquely tailored to the needs of the area, and some jurisdictions have tried to serve more than just one neighborhood.

The Cook County Community Court will be located in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood and is expected to open in early 2017. It will hear nonviolent felonies and misdemeanors committed by adults ages 18 through 26 who live in the neighborhood.

Chief Judge Evans believes that the court "is a solution to help send defendants on better paths and reduce the likelihood that they commit another crime." He wants it to send "a message to the public that we are committed to resolving conflicts in our neighborhoods in a way that both helps nonviolent offenders take responsibility for their actions while also providing restitution and restoration to victims." By taking a restorative justice approach, the court will help reintegrate offenders by connecting them with the social services that they need to make a transition back into the community.

Success in Manhattan, Minneapolis

Restorative justice is more than just reintegration. The court will address conflicts through restorative conferences and peace circles, which literally bring offenders and victims together to talk about the crime and try to reach consensus and healing.

By focusing on accountability toward the victim and those affected, the process helps develop a plan to move forward. Ultimately, Cook County Circuit Judge Colleen F. Sheehan will make decisions on community-based sentences and treatment for defendants. The defendants who participate in the program will do so voluntarily. They may have no more than one prior felony conviction.

If they successfully complete it, then they may have the opportunity to have their charges dropped and arrest expunged. Judge Sheehan expects that the community will be invested in the program because it "seeks to give the community a voice in identifying problems and crafting solutions."

The community court's grant provides funding for two years; it is expected to serve 100 defendants a year. The Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice issued a policy brief in 2013 (http://bit.ly/1TdnInQ) that supports the implementation of community courts. It states that the four potential benefits to their implementation are expedited case processing, improved defendant compliance, long-term cost savings, and enhanced perceptions of fairness.

The brief points out that expedited case processing and reduced recidivism help drive cost savings. Community courts tend to reduce the arrest-to-arraignment time and have shown significant success in both Midtown and in Hennepin County, Minnesota.

Moreover, by providing resources and social services to defendants in the programs, recidivism has seen a decline in areas where community courts are located. According to the Center for Court Innovation's research, defendants are also more likely to comply with community court social service and community service requirements than they are in traditional courts. Midtown has seen compliance rates of 75 percent and 84 percent, respectively (www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/documents/ccresearch.pdf).

The Center's research also reveals that offenders and litigants have higher perceptions of fairness when dealing with community courts. In Chicago, changing perceptions is important. According to Judge Sheehan, "The community has been clamoring for change, for a transformation and to take a look at how we approach crime and what our criminal justice system is about."