Testing the Impact of the Midtown Community Court

Community courts are neighborhood-focused courts that attempt to harness the authority of the justice system to address local problems. The first such project was the Midtown Community Court, launched in midtown Manhattan in 1993. As of the end of 2007, more than 50 community courts had opened across the globe, including 32 in the United States (Karafin 2008). Yet, only a handful of studies have tested the effects of the community court model in accomplishing its goals (see Kralstein 2005). Many of these goals involve having a real impact on the local community – by implementing restorative community service projects or initiating greater collaboration between the court and community representatives. In addition, community courts seek to diversify the range of disposition and sentencing options that are at the court’s disposal and to apply a form of individualized justice that tailors each response to the litigant’s specific situation and needs (Sviridoff, Rottman, and Weidner 2001). The expected outcome is a far greater use of “alternative sanctions” than in a traditional court (Kralstein 2005; Sviridoff et al. 2000, Weidner and Davis 2000). Indeed, a recent survey found that 92% of today’s community courts routinely use community service mandates, and 84% routinely use mandates to social services, including substance abuse treatment, treatment readiness sessions, individual counseling, employment readiness, or life skills classes (Karafin 2008).

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http://www.courtinnovation.org/_uploads/documents/Midtown_Downtown.pdf