Problem-Solving Justice

The Red Hook Community Justice Center has become an international model of justice reform by implementing innovative strategies that have reduced the use of jail, lowered recidivism and strengthened public confidence in justice. This short film about the Justice Center produced by the Center for Court Innovation was selected as a 2016 finalist in the TV/Video category of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency's Media for A Just Society Awards.

With funding from the National Institute of Justice, the National Center for State Courts completed this independent evaluation of the Red Hook Community Justice Center in 2013. The evaluation found that the Justice Center's emphasis on alternatives to incarceration, including community restitution projects and social services, helped reduce the use of jail even as it helped reduce recidivism among misdemeanor offenders.

The threat of incarceration has long been seen in some quarters as the best incentive to ensure people’s engagement in court-ordered treatment. But what if that assumption is wrong? This research brief argues the central element governing the effectiveness of treatment is the quality of the human interaction that accompanies it.