At this year's State of the Judiciary, Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson shared the podium with guest speakers who have seen firsthand what happens when courts treat people with care and compassion.
Each year, the Chief Judge of New York presents an overview of the court system’s achievements and priorities to the public. When Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson began his State of the Judiciary speech this year, he made it clear that this time would be different from years past. “From here forward, everything about this year’s State of the Judiciary will be unorthodox.”
Judge Wilson invited a number of guests to join him in addressing the audience. Both practitioners and participants, they came from many different backgrounds, and each had experienced the court system from a unique vantage point. But they also had something important in common: firsthand experience of what happens when courts treat people with care, compassion, and a spirit of openness to solving real, human problems.
Let’s think of our courts as problem-solvers, not solely adjudicators of which party is right.
Courts, in the traditional framework, are places where a judge decides who is right and who is wrong. But there are pockets of innovation across the country, showing the power of different approaches that reimagine courts, in Judge Wilson’s words, as “problem-solvers, not solely adjudicators of which party is right.”
That vision—a vision of courts that can help people overcome life issues by surrounding them with positive resources—is one we share with Judge Wilson, and have been working to make a reality since the beginnings of our very first program, the Midtown Community Justice Center.
The guest speakers at this year’s State of the Judiciary were, each of them, living proof of that vision’s strength. Their testimonies spoke to the power that treatment courts, veterans courts, and alternatives-to-incarceration courts have to spark positive change in the lives of people who, very often, are undergoing crisis.
I learned skills that helped me express my pain through art and that helped my soul heal.
Tears came to the eyes of many in the audience as one speaker, Ronette Cordett, shared her story as a graduate from the Manhattan Felony Alternative-to-Incarceration (ATI) Court. The path that led Ronette to the court was a difficult and often painful one. When she learned about the program, she saw a chance to get the help she needed. “Each time I was in court, I started to feel seen.”
Ronette felt the impact of the court’s restorative vision in a number of ways—anger management sessions, GED classes, therapy, and outlets for artistic expression. “I learned skills that helped me express my pain through art and that helped my soul heal.”
An initiative of the New York County Supreme Court’s Criminal Term, the Felony ATI Court is among the first in the country to offer meaningful paths out of the criminal legal system to people charged with all kinds of felony offenses. With our Manhattan Justice Opportunities team serving as its independent clinical agency, the initiative is fueled by collaboration between the court system, defender agencies, social service providers, as well as the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office—which has provided critical funding to scale the initiative—and the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, which has also supported the program’s expansion.
“It took a lot of hard work to get to my graduation day,” Ronette remembered. “But when I got there, it was a day for celebrations and smiles.”
The idea of courts as places that support people in leading better, more fulfilling lives is no longer so radical. Today, there are thousands of such courts around the country, each the setting of countless stories like those shared at this year’s State of the Judiciary.
“It is easy, through institutional indifference, to allow a life to waste,” Judge Wilson reflected. “It is much harder to nurture a life in trouble.” When courts take that harder path, they become sites of healing, change, and humanity.