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Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Courts - In Problem-Solving Court, Judges Turn Therapist

The NY Times had an interesting article yesterday headlined "In Problem-Solving Court, Judges Turn Therapist." Some quotes:

The interventionist approach - known in New York as problem-solving courts - dates to 1989, when a judge in Miami decided to try to order treatment for drug addicts. Soon after, New York developed the Midtown Community Court to deal with quality-of-life crimes in Times Square. At that court, prostitutes, for example, are ordered to perform community service and can receive training for a new career.

In recent years, the problem-solving idea has spread across the country, according to studies done for the Department of Justice, which has spent tens of millions of dollars on these experimental programs. New York alone has received almost $17 million since 2000, and the state's chief judge, Judith S. Kaye, says the efforts are worth it - for the people accused and for the court system, which handles 4 million cases a year.

"We're seeing the same people again and again and again," Judge Kaye said, because of factors like substance abuse and family dysfunction. With problem-solving courts, she added, "we can use the time that person is before us more constructively, for recovery and rehabilitation."

To an outsider, a "problem-solving court" might not look very different from a traditional one. These courts exist, for the most part, in regular courthouses, and there are judges in robes and court officers in uniform.

But there are significant differences. The judges often have an unusual amount of information about the people who appear before them. These people, who are often called clients, rather than defendants, can talk directly to the judges, rather than communicating through lawyers.

And the judges monitor these defendants for months, even years, using a system of rewards and punishments, which can include jail time. Judges also receive training in their court's specialty and may have a psychologist on the staff.

Drug courts generally have a positive track record. A 2003 study of six New York drug courts found that participants were almost a third less likely to be rearrested than similar defendants in the regular criminal courts.

But the results for newer courts are unclear. For example, a specialized court in Harlem for nonviolent parolees is supposed to help them by providing treatment programs and services like job training.

But a 2003 study found that participants in the court program still too often wound up back in jail. * * *

Of all the problem-solving experiments, courts that specialize in domestic violence are probably the most controversial. Advocates for victims tend to think they are too lenient, saying that batterers deserve jail time, not anger-management treatment.

But public defenders have darkly dubbed these courts "victims' courts," contending that they are meant to protect the person - usually a woman - bringing charges rather than determining the guilt or innocence of the person being charged with the crime.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 27, 2005 07:57 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts