To submit ideas for future issues, suggest names for our mailing list or learn more about the Center for Court Innovation's Upstate office, contact Norma Feldman at nfeldman@courts.state.ny.us or Tel (315) 671-2094; Fax (315) 671-2092.

Sex offenders pose unique challenges to the criminal justice system and the community. For example, researchers say that the full extent of an individual's sex offending--whether sexual assault, incest, molestation, rape, sexual abuse, exhibitionism or voyeurism--might not be identified by law enforcement, the court, or even the victim until after the case has been resolved. Also, while sex offenders often appear compliant with probation, research shows over time they are the most likely group to re-offend.

Because of these special challenges, the court system has developed specialized courts with the hope of better serving victims and improving community safety. In sex offense courts, prosecutors and probation officers, as well as judges and court staff receive special training to familiarize themselves with the psychology of sex offenders.

In a conventional criminal court, a case may be pled down or the sex offender may be sent back into the community with little supervision or appropriate treatment. But in one of the most important features of these pilot courts, defendants are placed under extensive monitoring. The court model includes rapid calendaring of cases and a swift response to violations of probation.

Judge James McCarthy of the Oswego Sex Offense Court handles each sex offense case from suppression hearings to conviction. He believes the compliance calendar, which requires participants to return to court frequently to check on their compliance with mandates, has lessened reoffending. In addition, any report of misconduct brings the sex offender and the probation officer back to court. "The probation officers are very supportive of the new court and the use of a compliance calendar as another monitoring tool," McCarthy said.

For additional information about issues concerning sex offenders, visit the web site for the Center for Sex Offense Management, a project of the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice at http://www.csom.org.

Problem-Solving Justice 101

This semester, 10 students at Fordham Law School in New York City enrolled in a course called Problem-Solving Justice: Courts as Agents of Social Change while 20 students at the State University of Buffalo School of Law took a course called A Critical Look at Therapeutic Courts: Drug Treatment, Domestic Violence, Mental Health and Gambling Courts. Both courses are among the first in the nation to examine drug, mental health, community and domestic violence courts that take a problem-solving approach to crime. In both classes, students learn about the theories behind problem-solving courts and observe both traditional and problem-solving courts in action.

In Buffalo, the course has been co-taught for the past eight years by Judge Mark Violante of Niagara Falls and Judge Mark Farrell of Amherst. In New York, the course is co-taught by Manhattan Family Court Supervising Judge Susan Knipps, Brooklyn Integrated Domestic Violence Court Judge Patricia Henry and Valerie Raine, director of drug court programs at the Center for Court Innovation. Raine feels it's important for students to learn about problem solving from a judge. "In all problem-solving courts, the judge assumes not only a very different and pivotal role, but symbolizes the pro-active character of these courts. Students should hear firsthand their perspective," Raine said.

During visits to court, Farrell's students attend case conferencing and then pair with court staff including district attorneys, defense attorneys, coordinators and judges. At the conclusion of the court session, all meet in chambers to discuss the process and ask questions about what they observed. Students are required to write a 20-page paper about any aspect of a problem-solving court they have learned about during the semester.

The curriculum used at Fordham was developed with the help of an advisory committee of law professors and other experts and a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The Center for Court Innovation has recently disseminated the curriculum to drug court practitioners and academics throughout the country. Says Greg Berman, director of the Center for Court Innovation: "The goal is to get future lawyers to look at these non-traditional approaches to justice and start thinking of themselves as problem-solvers."

Look for a link to the Fordham Law School curriculum on http://www.courtinnovation.org/problemsolvingjustice.html or contact Raine at vraine@courts.state.ny.us. For information about the Buffalo Law School course, contact Farrell at judgefarrell@aol.com or Violante at maviolan@courts.state.ny.us.

Oswego IDV Court Offers CLE Program

The Oswego Integrated Domestic Violence Court informed members of the local legal community about the court through a half-day continuing legal education program. Thirty-eight members of the bar participated.

Judge David J. Roman opened the program with an overview of the origin and purpose of integrated domestic violence courts. He discussed jurisdictional issues, court operations, and explained the rationale for the "one family/ one judge" concept. During the second session, Robin Braunstein, executive director of Service to Aid Families, provided an overview of the dynamics involved in intimate-partner violence and special legal circumstances that often arise.

For the third session, a member of the U.S. Attorney's Office, Richard Southwick, summarized provisions of the Gun Control Act that apply to domestic violence cases. He also discussed the Full Faith and Credit Provisions of the Violence Against Women Act. Lastly, Anthony Gigliotti, principal counsel for the Attorney Grievance Committee, Appellate Division Fourth Department, focused his ethics session on considerations in cases that involve partner violence and the obligations of lawyers who appear in related Family Court and matrimonial proceedings.

"It is important to have attorneys who are well versed in the practices and procedures of this section of court, and who also have a good understanding of the dynamics of domestic violence in general," Roman said.

The session was sponsored by the Upstate Office of the Center for Court Innovation, the Oswego County Bar Association, and Service to Aid Families, a local service provider. The Oswego Integrated Domestic Violence Court intends to co-sponsor continuing legal education on domestic violence issues on a semi-annual basis in partnership with the bar association and service providers.

Kaye Highlights Problem-Solving Justice in State of Judiciary Address

New York State remains a national leader in the development of problem-solving courts, Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye said in her annual State of the Judiciary address, which was delivered at the Court of Appeals in Albany in February. She noted that "...Midtown Community Court, New York's original problem-solving court [was the] first effort to take a different perspective on the swelling misdemeanor dockets." The principles which were first developed in the community courts were adapted to other problem-solving courts, such as drug courts, mental health courts, and domestic violence courts.

Kaye cited the contributions of the Center for Court Innovation: "In creating the Center, we essentially adapted a model from the private sector: we chose to make an ongoing investment in research and development, and we chose to shield these functions from the daily pressures of managing the courts. The results have been unmistakable: the Center for Court Innovation has helped keep New York at the forefront of court reform for more than a decade."

Kaye also called for the creation of a Center for Courts and the Community that would focus on "fortifying educational partnerships for schoolchildren and adults, and on establishing programs to inform and facilitate the work of the media."

Judge Kaye's entire 2006 State of the Judiciary speech can be found at: http://www.nycourts.gov/admin/stateofjudiciary/soj2006.pdf.

Ontario County Family Court Starts Pro Se Project

A pilot project funded by the New York Bar Association assists pro se, low-income litigants in Ontario County Family Court in filing a new petition or modifying an existing one for child custody, visitation, or child support.

Using a computer in the Ontario County Family Court, a litigant can sit in the courthouse in Canandaigua and have a face-to-face computer videoconference with an attorney from Legal Assistance of the Finger Lakes whose offices are in Geneva, N.Y.

The Remote Assistance Project, funded by the New York State Bar Association, has several benefits for pro se litigants, among them: they do not have to travel to get legal assistance from an attorney; they do not need to be computer experts since an advocate controls the computers at both sites; and an advocate can send the petition directly from his or her computer in Geneva to a printer in the Ontario County Courthouse.

The project is beneficial in rural parts of the state that lack public transportation and where distances between service providers and courts are often large. There are plans to expand the project as additional funding is acquired. For more information, contact Michael Morrisey, chief clerk, Ontario Family Court, at mmorrise@courts.state.ny.us.

Montgomery County Drug Treatment Court Holds "Flash Dance"

Life Works, the alumni group of the Montgomery County Drug Treatment Court, held a "Flash Dance" in Amsterdam, N.Y., for participants and graduates of the court program and other area residents. Approximately 150 people attended the combination dance and photo contest, including Montgomery Drug Court Judge Felix J. Catena, District Attorney James E. "Jed" Conboy, Amsterdam Police Detective Lt. Thomas DiMezza, and Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) representative Raymond Conte, as well as parents, spouses, and children of drug court participants and graduates. The dance raised approximately $400, half of which was donated to Friends of Recovery, an OASAS-based aftercare program for women and their children in Montgomery County.

700 Attend Drug Court Conference

Over 700 drug court professionals attended the seventh and largest annual conference of the New York Association of Drug Treatment Court Professionals.

The conference, held in Buffalo from March 1 to 3, featured a full day focused on "Addressing DWI Offenders in Our Treatment Courts," plus three plenary sessions and 24 breakout sessions. The conference focused on strategies for enhancing community-based support for drug treatment courts. The conference planning team, led by New York Association of Drug Treatment Court Professionals President, Judge Thomas Amodeo, recognized the tremendous growth of family and juvenile drug courts by adding 12 breakout sessions to address the specific issues and concerns of these programs. "I am truly amazed at the continued commitment by all participants at the conference. The challenges associated with recovery will always need to be addressed in forums promoting the exchange of ideas. The dedication of the members of this association together with the support of our court administration will insure future success of the annual conference but, more importantly, the success of the individual drug treatment courts throughout New York State," Amodeo said.

Experts from across the country spoke, including Karen Freeman-Wilson, president of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals.

Judge Judy Harris Kluger, New York State deputy chief administrative judge for court operations and planning, applauded the accomplishments of drug courts. "While all of you work in your communities to strengthen your local partnerships, my office will work to strengthen partnerships with policy makers of all agencies, service providers, and government entities. The message from top level stakeholders all the way to direct program service providers [is that New York] will continue to be committed to the drug court model."

Problem-Solving Principles Applied to Child Support Dockets

According to officials at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nev., problem-solving court principles are being used in a variety of cases including child support. Creative measures have been implemented to help ensure that children receive the emotional and financial support of both parents.

Chief Family Court Magistrate Peter Passidomo, White Plains, N.Y. describes the collaborative process that occurred in his jurisdiction when the court and child support agency worked together to implement telephone testimony. Telephonic hearings are now permitted for those who live an hour or more away from the court. This has improved parental involvement in their children's lives and resulted in better compliance. For parents to participate in this program, they were required to provide financial documentation in advance including pay stubs and tax returns. The hearings have resulted in more child support being paid. In addition, children and parents have a chance at establishing and maintaining relationships that might not otherwise have been encouraged and fostered.

For more information about applying problem-solving principles to child support dockets, contact Chief Magistrate Passidomo at PPASSIDO@courts.state.ny.us or Dennis Jones at the National Judicial College at jones@judges.org.

New Resource Being Developed by the National Center for State Courts

The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) is working with a 20-member Advisory Committee to prepare an online resource to help state and local jurisdictions implement problem-solving court principles.

In 2004, the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) reaffirmed their commitment to support the expanded use and integration of the principles and methods of problem-solving courts into the administration of justice. During their 2004 annual meeting, the chief justices and state court administrators considered strategies to expand the use of problem-solving court principles within their state as well as national strategies to support state efforts. A primary strategy emerging from the session was the development and dissemination of a "toolkit" to help state and local jurisdictions make greater use of the problem-solving approach-either through the development of specialized court dockets or the incorporation of specific problem-solving practices into traditional court settings.

The NCSC project, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the State Justice Institute, responds to the call by the Nation's court policy leaders for this resource. Specifically, it will (a) create a step-by-step guide that walks a jurisdiction through the process of designing and implementing a problem-solving court approach and provides examples of written documents and forms to facilitate the implementation of each step, (b) create a Web site for easy access to the Toolkit, including the guide and associated documents and forms, and (c) disseminate information about the Web site and Toolkit to a broad range of judicial audiences. The Toolkit will be available online by the end of the year. For more information on the Toolkit, contact the NCSC's Pam Casey at pcasey@ncsc.dni.us.

Upcoming Conference

The National Association of Drug Court Professionals will hold its annual training conference in Seattle from June 21 to June 24, 2006. For more information visit: http://www.nadcp.org/events/.