“Applying the Problem-Solving Model Outside of Problem-Solving Courts”
By Francine Byrne, Donald Farole, Jr., Nora Puffett, and Michael Rempel
A brief article highlighting major findings and lessons concerning the potential to apply problem-solving practices in a more in-depth way throughout the courts. Longer versions of this research are available in other publications. Published in Judicature, Volume 89, No. 1 (2005).
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A Comprehensive Community Justice Model: An Evaluation of the Baltimore Community Justice Initiative
By Dana Kralstein
A report documenting the efforts of the Baltimore Community Justice Initiative, which attempted to incorporate a broad array of justice system and community-based organizations in an ambitious effort to spread principles and practices of community justice. Led by the University of Maryland School of Law, the initiative had three principal components: (1) a broad effort at cross-agency collaboration to promote community justice in two Baltimore neighborhoods, (2) a school conflict resolution program, and (3) a youth advocacy program.The evaluation discusses the assets of the initiative and the challenges it encountered while building a large, sustainable infrastructure and network within the City of Baltimore for current and future collaboration around community justice issues.
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A Full Response to an Empty House: Public Safety Strategies for Addressing Mortgage Fraud and the Foreclosure Crisis
By Robert V. Wolf
An overview of law enforcement and government responses to mortgage fraud, foreclosure, and abandoned property, drawing on focus groups sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance in January 2009. The focus groups brought together representatives from Indio, CA, Dallas, Indianapolis, Baltimore, and Miami, as well as researchers, policymakers, and advocates from financial, housing, and law enforcement organizations.
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A National Compendium of Domestic Violence Courts
By Staff of the Center for Court Innovation
This compendium serves as a companion document to A National Portrait of Domestic Violence Courts. The compendium provides contact information for 208 criminal domestic violence courts in the United States as of December 2009. These courts handle criminal domestic violence cases on a separate calendar or assign criminal domestic violence cases to one or more dedicated judges or judicial officers.
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'A New Way of Doing Business': A Conversation about the Statewide Coordination of Problem-Solving Courts
By Robert V. Wolf
To guide governments as they think about how to coordinate problem-solving courts on a statewide basis, the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Center for Court Innovation brought together 18 policymakers, researchers, and practitioners in April 2008 for a roundtable on the topic. This paper summarizes their discussion.
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A Problem-Solving Revolution: Making Change Happen in State Courts
By Staff of the Center for Court Innovation
In recent years, a number of states have worked to transform how courts respond to difficult cases where social, human and legal problems intersect. Building on the success of pioneering drug courts, community courts, mental health courts and domestic violence courts, state court systems are increasingly seeking to make problem-solving innovation a permanent feature of the judicial branch. Recognizing this, the Center for Court Innovation has made a significant intellectual investment in understanding the practical, political and conceptual challenges of “going to scale” with problem-solving innovation. In this collection of essays Center staff have sought to identify and address some of the most challenging questions faced by states as they seek to reform their court systems.
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Addressing Foreclosed and Abandoned Properties
By Roxann Pais and Robert V. Wolf
This fact sheet offers an array of ideas to address vacant and abandoned properties. The strategies in this guide—which have been culled from real-life approaches across the U.S.—are intended to assist law enforcement and government agencies seeking to prevent property abandonment and lessen problems—such crime and increased demand for municipal services—when abandonment occurs.
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Annual Report: 2009
Highlights of the Center for Court Innovation's accomplishments in 2009.
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Avoiding Failures of Implementation: Lessons from Process Evaluations
By Amanda Cissner and Donald Farole, Jr.
Part of a multi-faceted inquiry into failure undertaken by the Center for Court Innovation and the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance, this paper examines failures that occur during the implementation of a new initiative, seeking to identify common sources of failure and to develop a basic list of considerations that may help practitioners avoid future pitfalls.
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Breaking with Tradition: Introducing Problem Solving in Conventional Courts
By Robert V. Wolf
An overview of why problem solving strategies are desirable and techniques practitioners can deploy to introduce these strategies in conventional courtrooms. Published in the International Review of Law, Computers & Technology, Vol. 22, Nos. 1-2.
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International Review of Law, Computers & Technology
Building Support for Justice Initiatives: A Communications Toolkit
By Jimena Martinez
A manual to help justice practitioners communicate about their work with the public and key institutional stakeholders. Includes 10 key steps for effective communication, extensive links to on-line resources, and guides offering sample logos, brochures and flyers as well as practical tips for communication strategies like "Crafting a Core Message."
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"COMMENT: Redefining Criminal Courts: Problem-Solving and the Meaning of Justice"
By Greg Berman
A comment on James Nolan, "Redefining Criminal Courts: Problem-Solving and the Meaning of Justice." This essay rebuts Nolan’s contention that problem-solving courts have become so blinded by the seductive rhetoric of "therapeutic jurisprudence" that they have lost sight of fundamental legal principles like due process and proportionality.
Published in American Criminal Law Review, Vol. 41, No. 3 (Summer 2004)
Community Justice Around the Globe: An International Overview
By Robert V. Wolf
A survey of community court and community prosecution programs around the world. Published in Crime & Justice International, July/August 2006, Vol. 22, No. 93.
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Community Justice: An International Overview
By Robert V. Wolf
A redacted and updated version of the article "Community Justice Around the Globe," which originally appeared in Crime & Justice International. Published in Judicature, Vol. 91, No. 6, May-June 2008.
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Documenting Results: Research on Problem-Solving Justice
By Staff of the Center for Court Innovation
This collection of research reports, written by Center for Court Innovation staff, analyzes the impact of a broad range of problem-solving initiatives launched in New York State and nationwide over the past decade. Among the findings: judicially monitored drug treatment succeeds in reducing recidivism among addicted offenders; more than 85 percent of offenders at an experimental community court thought their cases were handled fairly-a significant improvement compared to conventional courts; by linking mentally ill offenders to community-based treatment instead of incarceration, courts can help improve offenders functioning and reduce the likelihood of re-arrest. The book also includes overviews of the national research literature on drug courts and community courts; an evaluation of a new approach to teen dating violence; and an investigation of how problem-solving principles might be integrated more broadly throughout state court systems.
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Don’t Reinvent the Wheel: Lessons from Problem-Solving Courts
By Robert V. Wolf
A review of nine practical strategies to break down the conceptual and in some cases practical barriers that separate specialized courts from each other and the world of problem-solving from traditional courts.
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Expanding the Use of Problem Solving: The U.S. Department of Justice’s Community-Based Problem-Solving Criminal Justice Initiative
By Robert V. Wolf
An in-depth look at the 10 projects awarded grants under the Bureau of Justice Assistance's Community-Based Problem-Solving Criminal Justice Initiative. All the grantees are trying something new: expanding problem solving to include new populations, new geographic territory, or new agencies within the criminal justice system.
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Fact Sheet—Developing a Community Service Protocol
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Fact Sheet—Evaluating Your Program
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Fact Sheet—Finding the Resources to Help Your Program Thrive
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Fact Sheet—Mapping Community Resources
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Fact Sheet—Planning Checklist
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Fact Sheet—Problem-Solving Justice in the United States: Common Principles
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Fact Sheet—Publicizing Your Program and Its Successes
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Fact Sheet—Using Data to Build Your Program
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Fact Sheet—Using Diversion as Part of a Problem-Solving Strategy
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Good Courts: The Case for Problem-Solving Justice
By Greg Berman and John Feinblatt
Good Courts is the first book to describe the problem-solving court movement and features in-depth looks at Center for Court Innovation projects like the Midtown Community Court and Red Hook Community Justice Center, as well as other projects around the country, like Oregon’s Portland Community Court. By the Center for Court Innovation's founding director John Feinblatt and current director Greg Berman, Good Courts reviews the growing body of evidence that the problem-solving approach to justice is indeed producing positive results.
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Introduction to Problem Solving: Key Issues and Challenges
This curriculum is based on the agendas and participant handbooks created for two workshops held for grant sites under the Community-Based Problem-Solving Criminal Justice Initiative of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice. Intended to provide practitioners with the tools to initiate their own problem-solving initiative, it includes a number of resources that can be adapted for a variety of purposes. It is intended to assist court managers, judicial trainers, and other in putting on trainings at the local level, creating agendas and participant handbooks based on these materials. The hope is that it will help jurisdictions train their local system players in planning and implementing a community-based problem-solving criminal justice initiative.
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Justice in Red Hook
By Greg Berman and Aubrey Fox
An overview of the Red Hook Community Justice Center and the lessons learned from the Justice Center's efforts at neighborhood engagement.
Published in The Justice System Journal, Volume 26, No. 1 (2005)
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Learning from Failure: A Roundtable on Criminal Justice Innovation
By Greg Berman
In January 2007, the Center for Court Innovation and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance convened a day-long roundtable in New York that brought together judges, court administrators, probation officials, prosecutors, police chiefs and defense attorneys from across the country to discuss lessons they have learned from projects that did not succeed. The goal was to take a deeper look at failed reform efforts and extract concrete lessons that might aid the next generation of innovators, as well as those who authorize and fund innovation.
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Principles of Problem-Solving Justice
By Robert V. Wolf
An examination of the six principles that animate problem-solving justice. The principles are based on the Center for Court Innovation’s experience developing problem-solving initiatives, an analysis of problem-solving projects from across the country, and feedback from leading practitioners.
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Problem-Solving and the American Bench: A National Survey of Trial Court Judges
By Francine Byrne, Yueh-Wen Chang, Donald Farole, Jr., and Michael Rempel
A nationwide survey of more than 1,000 trial court judges concerning their attitudes and practices with respect to problem-solving. The results indicate broad support for problem-solving methods and offer encouraging news for those interested in integrating problem-solving court principles in conventional court settings. The results also identify important obstacles, including limited resources and a need for greater education and training of judges.
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Problem-Solving and the American Bench: A National Survey of Trial Court Judges
By Donald Farole, Jr.
This journal article presents an abridged version of the Center for Court Innovation's nationwide survey of more than 1,000 randomly selected trial court judges concerning their attitudes and practices with respect to problem-solving. Published in Vol. 30, No. 1 (2009) of the Justice System Journal, which gave its permission to reprint the article here.
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Problem-Solving Justice: A Law School Course
This 14-week law school course analyzes the benefits and challenges of problem-solving justice. In addition to looking at the history and constitutional issues surrounding this topic, the course includes visits to traditional and problem-solving courts, class debates, lectures from practitioners from the field, and three student papers.
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"Problem-Solving Justice: Responding to Real Problems, Real People"
By Adam Mansky
An overview, written for a British audience, of problem-solving justice in America.
Criminal Justice Matters No. 57 (Autumn 2004)
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Race, Bias and Problem-Solving Courts
By Robert V. Wolf
In order to ensure that problem-solving courts work as fairly and effectively as possible with all populations, research needs to be done into the issues of race and bias. This groundbreaking paper, published in the National Black Law Journal, is an attempt to guide researchers in the right direction by highlighting key concerns that are ripe for future exploration and analysis. Published in 21 Nat'l Black L.J. 1 (2009).
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The Challenges of Going to Scale: Lessons from Other Disciplines for Problem-Solving Courts
By Donald Farole, Jr.
A discussion of the lessons learned in going to scale with innovations in education and other fields, and what these lessons imply for state judiciaries as they seek to go to scale with problem-solving justice.
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Trial and Error: Failure and Innovation in Criminal Justice Reform
By Greg Berman, Phillip Bowen, and Adam Mansky
The National Association of Probation Executives published this paper on failure. The product of semi-structured interviews with criminal justice experts, researchers and practitioners, as well as a review of the literature on failure, it seeks to provoke debate as to why some criminal justice reforms work and why some do not. By discussing failure openly, this paper seeks to help foster an environment of new thinking and the testing of new ideas.
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What Makes A Court Problem-Solving: Universal Performance Indicators for Problem-Solving Justice
By Adam Mansky, Rachel Porter, and Michael Rempel
Faced with the recent explosion of initiatives seeking to address the underlying problems of litigants, victims, and communities, there is an urgent need for guidance in how to assess court effectiveness at problem-solving. This report establishes a set of universal performance indicators against which to judge the success of specialized problem-solving courts. Supplemental indicators draw particular attention to the tracking needs of drug, mental health, community, and domestic violence courts. This report also seeks to assist traditional court managers by establishing a more limited set of performance measures, designed to capture problem-solving activity throughout an entire courthouse, not only within a specialized court context.
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Working Together: How a Neighborhood Justice Center in Harlem is Building Bridges and Improving Safety
By Carolyn Turgeon
A description of the Harlem Community Justice Center, a unique multi-jurisdictional community court that hears a mix of family and housing court cases. The center also offers an array of unconventional programs, including mediation, community service and reentry initiatives, that extend the justice center's reach well beyond the courtroom.
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