“Responding to the Community: Principles for Planning and Creating a Community Court.”

Source: (1997) US Dept of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Community justice involves creating new relationships both within the justice system and with stakeholders in the community such as residents, merchants, churches and schools, and testing new and aggressive approaches to public safety rather than merely responding to crime. This bulletin uses the Midtown Community Court in New York City as a case study and presents a set of common principles for community courts. Individual principles are presented and explained within the following general categories: (1) Restoring the Community; (2) Bridging the Gap Between Communities and Courts; (3) Knitting Together a Fractured Criminal Justice System; (4) Helping Offenders Deal With Problems That Lead to Crime; (5) Providing Better Information to Courts; and (6) Courthouse Design. The bulletin discusses obstacles to creating a community court responsive to a community’s needs; offers practical advice on applying what worked in the Midtown experiment; and includes sources for more information, additional resources on the Midtown Community Court and resources on community justice.