The Center for Court Innovation piloted a small electronic monitoring program—using smartphones—for young people under justice supervision. This article offers insights into the best ways to approach technology projects in the justice system, but also concludes that electronic tracking of 16- to 18-year-olds in school raised multiple challenges and provided too little benefit to serve as a replacement for traditional supervision methods.
As the use of technology in the justice system becomes more common, it is important that those designing and implementing new systems adhere to principles that support human dignity with an eye on achieving objectives in the simplest and least intrusive way possible. These principles were developed by the Center for Court Innovation in collaboration with the Open Society Foundation and Blue Ridge Labs at the Robin Hood Foundation.
This webinar focuses on child support and its intersection with the work of Price of Justice grantees to address the overuse of justice fines and fees. Jacqueline Boggess, executive director of the Center for Family Policy and Practice, provides an introduction to the child support system and discuss the impact of child support debt on justice-involved individuals. Price of Justice grantee sites then explore the implications for their projects through a discussion facilitated by the Center for Court Innovation.
The breadth and flexibility of technology provides the opportunity to generate new and innovative solutions in our legal system and better serve people who encounter it, regardless of their location, technological literacy, or language skills. These solutions can make court systems, programs, and services more efficient while at the same time increasing access to justice.
This fact sheet details the implementation of innovative teleservices programs in seven jurisdictions around the country. The jurisdictions featured in this publication use teleservices to increase treatment court capacity, overcome treatment barriers, supervise participants, and provide training for staff.
This report presents the findings from an evaluation of the Intelligence-Driven Prosecution Model, implemented in 2010 by the New York County District Attorney’s Office. The model relies on the Crime Strategies Unit which uses intelligence and technology to understand the people, places, and problems driving crime in order to improve prosecutorial decision-making.
In this New Thinking podcast, Kerry Walker, director of the Neighbourhood Justice Centre in Melbourne, Australia, describes some of the ways the Justice Centre engages the community, all with the long-term goal of promoting the rule of law and a “civil, caring society.” The podcast concludes with a discussion of ways the Justice Centre is using technology to promote safety and make the court more user-friendly.
Technology offers justice systems new ways to link offenders to substance abuse treatment and other needed services. In addition, technology enhances the ability of justice systems to monitor offender compliance and provide staff with ongoing training and professional development. This paper explores the use of technology in drug courts and offers recommendations for drug court practitioners seeking to enhance their work with technology.
New York University Law School Professor James Jacobs, author of "The Eternal Criminal Record" (Harvard University Press), discusses the proliferation of electronic criminal records and the challenges they pose for a free society. (March 2015)
An overview of the Domestic Violence Online Petition Program, which seeks to improve victim safety by allowing a petitioner—with help from a trained domestic violence advocate—to use the internet to file the application for an order of protection.
