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.

The innovative program, which is a collaborative effort of Buffalo City Court and the City of Buffalo, provides judges with an on-site court-based screening and referral service.

"We're basically a treatment and communication broker for the court. You name it, we got it. We can meet any need of a person who comes through the doors," Director Hank Pirowski said. The program links individuals coming through the justice system with a full range of social services, including drug treatment, mental health treatment, medical care, anger management, family counseling, youth counseling, domestic violence and battering programming, vocational/educational services, and housing.

The program started in 1995 after Chief Judge Thomas P. Amodeo, Pirowski, and others met with over 70 providers. "We convinced them that if they were involved with us, defendants would have easier access to their treatment systems," Pirowski said.

The program refers 6,000 cases to social service providers each year. For more information, click on the link to an article at:

http://www.courtinnovation.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Document.view
Document&documentID=719&documentTopicID=31&documentTypeID=10

First New York Listening Conference Held in Syracuse

In April, the New York Federal-State-Tribal Courts Forum held the first Listening Conference in New York State, with over 100 tribal, state and federal judges and tribal justice system representatives in attendance.

With nine tribes in New York--and a number of tribal justice systems--state and federal courts are being confronted with complex issues of jurisdiction as well as conflicting legal provisions and decisions in the areas of family, criminal, matrimonial and business law. Co-sponsored by the New York State Judicial Institute and the Center for Indigenous Law, Governance and Citizenship at Syracuse University's College of Law, the Listening Conference was held April 26 and April 27 in Syracuse. The conference grew out of a national effort to promote dialogue and understanding among tribal and non-tribal justice systems in order to minimize and prevent conflict.

"People really took advantage of it," said Carrie E. Garrow, executive director for the Center for Indigenous Law, Governance and Citizenship. "It was a great opportunity for people to start talking together about various challenges they face, and we got a lot of positive feedback."

Plattsburgh Mental Health Court Fosters Partnerships

Since opening in January, the Plattsburgh Mental Health Court has built successful partnerships with community organizations.

Judge Penelope Clute attributes some of the court's success to Plattsburgh's small size. With 19,000 residents, Plattsburgh is the smallest city in New York with a mental health court. "There are advantages to being in a small community: we all know each other and we can fit around one table," Judge Clute said.

"During our team's planning phase last year, we held a press conference and two large meetings, inviting community agencies and professionals," said Judge Clute. "This brought in partners for us to work with, as well as educated the community."

One of the court's key partners is Behavioral Health Services North, one of the few providers of mental health and substance abuse services in Clinton County. It is the first agency in the state to be licensed as a provider of Personalized Recovery Oriented Services, a new program started by the New York State Office of Mental Health that integrates treatment, support and rehabilitation.

The court also partners with the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, which is making graduate students from its mental health counseling program available to conduct an evaluation of the court.

Recently, Judge Clute was designated an Acting County Court Judge, allowing her to expand the mental health court's jurisdiction to include felony cases.

The National Alliance on Mentally Illness-Champlain Valley gave Judge Clute its 2006 Mental Health Advocate of the Year Award to recognize her work with the Plattsburgh Mental Health Court.

Chautauqua IDV Court Opens

The Chautauqua Integrated Domestic Violence court held its official opening ceremony in May.

The court hears overlapping family, criminal and matrimonial cases from the six most populous areas of the county: the cities of Jamestown and Dunkirk, and the towns of Ellicott, Busti, Pomfret, and Hanover. The court eventually plans to include all of the other Town and Village Court jurisdictions.

The court system used a federal grant from the Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women to hire a resource coordinator, Lisa Meacham, to staff both the Integrated Domestic Violence Court and the specialized criminal Domestic Violence Court in Jamestown. Meacham helps foster links between the courts and social service agencies. She also monitors offender compliance to promote victim safety.

Judges and staff from the City Courts, Town and Village Courts, Family Court, Supreme Court, as well as representatives from partner agencies, including the District Attorney's Office, defense bar, civil legal services, matrimonial bar, Department of Probation, domestic violence agencies, law enforcement, and Department of Social Services, have been involved in the Chautauqua Integrated Domestic Violence Court's planning and operation. According to Meacham, much of the court's success is due to the fact that "community partners have expressed a great interest in learning about the new court and have been very accommodating in attending meetings, responding to the court's requests and reporting information to the court on a timely basis."

Speakers at the opening ceremony included presiding Judge Stephen Cass, Judge Sharon Townsend, Administrative Judge of the Eighth Judicial District and Judge Judy Harris Kluger, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Court Operations and Planning. Judges Kluger and Townsend thanked the planning team and partner agencies for their assistance in the development and operation of the court.

By the end of the year, the Eighth Judicial District expects to have Integrated Domestic Violence Courts in seven of its eight counties.

Upstate Mental Health Courts Participate in Conference

Representatives from New York mental health courts participated in a panel at the National GAINS Center 2006 Conference in April. The panelists were Judge Patricia Marks, founding judge of the Monroe County Mental Health Court; Lucille Jackson, project director of the Brooklyn Mental Health; and Mona White, peer specialist with the Buffalo Mental Health Court. Carol Fisler, director of Mental Health Court Programs at the Center for Court Innovation, moderated the discussion.

The topic of the panel was "What's Really Going On? An Examination of How Courts Motivate Treatment Compliance." Panel participants discussed the impact that coercion — especially the threat of jail time — has on the defendants' motivation to participate in mental health courts; the importance of defendants feeling that they are being treated fairly; the value of multidisciplinary teams; the use of sanctions and incentives; and the power of the relationships that develop between mental health court judges and participants.

Drug Court Alumni Groups Active in 3 Counties

In June 2005, graduates of the Montgomery County Adult Drug Treatment Court formed an alumni group named Life Works. The members' mission was to give back to the communities they had harmed and reduce the stigma they felt as substance abusers who had been through the criminal justice system.

Initially, Life Works membership was limited to drug court graduates but soon changed to include later-stage participants. As community awareness of Life Works grew, other like-minded community members who were supportive of addiction recovery, such as the director of the Addiction Prevention Council, a probation officer, and the local jail educator, joined the organization. The drug court coordinator became the liaison between Life Works and the drug court.

Recently, neighboring drug courts in Fulton and Herkimer counties became interested in the Life Works concept. Each is forming a group with the name Life Works, but is adding its own county name to avoid any appearance of competition. Organizers hope the common name will give more strength to this fledgling movement and lead to the establishment of similar alumni groups in all New York State treatment courts.

According to Claudia McDuffie, Montgomery County Drug Court coordinator and Life Works liaison, other drug court professionals are showing interest in establishing Life Works groups.

Use of Summary Jury Trials Increases

Summary jury trials, an expedited means of having a jury evaluate a case, have proven to be "an efficient, effective tool for the disposition of civil cases, [and] should be expanded throughout the State," according to First Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau, in a recent report on civil justice.

The summary jury trial process was pioneered over the past six years in Supreme Court in Chautauqua County, which disposed of 303 cases without a traditional jury trial or arbitration. The cases reflected a variety of lawsuits, including defective streets, steps and sidewalks, slip and fall, automobile collisions, medical malpractice, contracts, wrongful timber cutting and dog bites.

A summary jury trial differs from arbitration or mediation because the case is presented before a judge and jury; it is also different from a traditional trial because the case is tried and completed in one day. Attorneys for the plaintiff and defendant have a specific amount of time for presenting their cases. Witnesses are limited to two for each side, while written or videotaped evidence is read or played for the court. The jury is required to render a verdict before the end of the day. If the parties agreed in advance to a non-binding verdict, they still have the option for a traditional trial. Summary jury trials save courts time and money by avoiding potentially protracted trials.

The success of summary jury trials in Chautauqua County has led to their use in Erie and Niagara counties in the Eight Judicial District and new summary jury trial projects have been initiated in the Fourth Judicial District in the Bronx and Kings counties.

According to Joseph Gerace, a retired New York State Supreme Court justice from Chautauqua County, one advantage of the summary jury trial process is that unlike alternative dispute resolution, this approach involves the court in its traditional role and preserves the trial-by-jury concept. Additionally, "The process gives litigants their day in court months, if not years earlier than a traditional trial," said Gerace.

Additional information is available at http://nycourts.gov/courts/8jd/sjt.shtml and http://www.nycourts.gov/publications/benchmarks/issue3/summary_jury.shtml.

Study Shows Cost-Saving Benefits of Drug Courts

The Judicial Council of California, in a six-year study of nine drug courts, found that drug courts save money while also reducing recidivism.

The study examined the costs and benefits of drug courts on a statewide level. Individuals were followed for four years and the outcomes of their cases were compared to those of similar offenders who did not attend drug court.

The study concluded that drug courts were effective in lowering recidivism rates, and that, with the exception of treatment agencies, all agencies involved with drug courts saved money. For each year that a group of participants entered these nine drug courts, the state saw a combined net savings of more than $9 million. Considering that approximately 90 adult drug courts operate statewide, California taxpayers can expect to save over $90 million dollars annually.

A summary of the report can be obtained at: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/programs/collab/. Further information on the California Drug Court Cost Analysis Project may be obtained from Francine Byrne, senior research analyst, Center for Families, Children & the Courts, at 415-865-8069 or francine.byrne@jud.ca.gov.

Upcoming Conference

The Family Law and Social Policy Center of Syracuse University College of Law is sponsoring a one-day conference, "The Impact of Problem-Solving Courts: Are They An Effective Response to Social Problems Affecting Families and Chidlren?" on Friday, October 20, 2006 at the Marx Hotel in Syracuse, NY. The keynote speaker will be California Supreme Court Judge, Leonard Edwards. More information can be obtained at the web site, http://www.law.syr.edu/family.

Call for Papers

The New York Association of Drug Treatment Court Professionals is currently seeking proposals for presentations at its annual conference in March 2007. For detailed information about the proposal process, please click here.