Best practice number four: Community courts– an alternative for involving citizens and the community in the justice process

Source: Memphis, TN: Memphis Shelby Crime Commission.

Noting the growing disconnection between courts and the communities they are meant to serve, the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission analyzed this problem and sought an alternative in the community court model, especially as demonstrated in New York’s Midtown Community Court. This report consists of the Commission’s analysis and its proposed strategy for a community court in Memphis and Shelby County. Beginning with a definition of the problem – the disjunction of centralized courts and their communities – the report then presents the research data on crime, communities, and courts; analysis of the data; and a proposed strategy for implementing a community court in two phases – a pilot phase instituting some aspects of a community court on a regular but not daily basis, and then the establishment of a community court on a daily basis with a permanent community judge and either a permanent fixed or mobile location.