New York Association of Pretrial
Service Agencies
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RED HOOK COMMUNITY JUSTICE CENTER New York's second community-based court opened its doors on April 3, 2000. The Court is located in Red Hook, a neighborhood at the southwestern tip of Brooklyn that has been hard hit by drugs, crime and unemployment. Building on the model of the Midtown Community Court, the Justice Center will integrate the functions of a court with the types of treatment and preventive services typically found in a community center. In doing so, the Justice Center will test the extent to which a court can serve as a catalyst for change in the community. Key features of the Justice Center will include: A Multi-Jurisdiction Court: The Justice Center is planned as a multi-jurisdictional court that will handle a mix of criminal and civil matters. The bulk of the caseload will consist of misdemeanor arraignments, much as at the Midtown Community Court. However, the Justice Center will supplement the criminal caseload with some Family Court and Civil Court matters. In this way, the Justice Center seeks to address the needs of community residents as a whole, recognizing that individuals and families have multiple points of contact with the court system. With a single judge handling matters that ordinarily are heard by different decisionmakers at different locations, the aim is not just to provide swifter and more accessible justice, but also to improve outcomes through a coordinated judicial response. Community Restitution: Offenders at the Justice Center will immediately pay back the neighborhood through community restitution sentences. Potential sentences include painting over graffiti, planting trees, maintaining local parks and stuffing envelopes for local non-profits. Through community restitution, the Justice Center will make justice more visible and tangible to local inhabitants. Help for the Entire Community: The Justice Center will house a variety of social services under one roof to address the problems faced by Red Hook residents -- drug abuse, poverty, family violence, unemployment and lack of education. These services, which will include drug treatment, domestic violence counseling, job training, mediation services, health care and mentoring, will be available to all who are touched by crime in Red Hook -- defendants, victims and law-abiding citizens alike. Aggressive Approaches to Neighborhood Problems: The Justice Center will house several unconventional programs -- such as community mediation and job training -- that seek to address neighborhood problems. These programs represent the Justice Center's commitment to improving the quality of life in Red Hook. The Center's most aggressive project has been up and running since November 1995. The Red Hook Public Safety Corps is an AmeriCorps community service program that has put 50 local residents to work replacing broken windows, reaching out to crime victims and teaching young people how to resolve conflicts without violence. Participants receive an educational grant in return for a year of service to the community. The Corps is operated in partnership with the Kings County District Attorney's Office and Victim Services. State-of-the-Art Technology: Like the Midtown Community Court, the Justice Center will use computers to provide judges with the tools they need to make informed decisions and track offenders' compliance with alternative sanctions. The Justice Center will also test video technology that will link the courtroom to a judge in downtown Brooklyn for remote arraignments or other proceedings -- a valuable experiment in cost-effective decentralization. Pretrial Services in New York has expanded its interview to elicit from the defendant information helpful in fashioning a case disposition plan. Such a plan would include in most cases, community service as well as social services which are geared to help the defendant address issues which may be contributing to criminal behavior such as drug and alcohol abuse. If you would like a copy of the Red Hook Community Justice Center pretrial interview form, please contact NAPSA Delegate-at-Large, Peter Kiers at (212) 577-0508, or e-mail him at pkiers@nycja.org. You can also get the form on the New York Association of Pretrial Service Agencies web site - just click here. | Home | President's Message | Board Members | | Red Hook Community Justice Center | | Red Hook Interview Form || Criminal Justice Links |
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