General Jurisdiction/Trial Courts

Center staff organized and hosted a structured site visit for visitors from the Emerging Adult Justice Team and Columbia Justice Lab. The site visit included court observation, meeting with the judge and other key players, and talking with on-site social service providers.

Center staff organized and hosted a structured site visit for 2 visitors from Health Access Unity (Columbia University). The site visit included court observation, meeting with the judge and other key players, and talking with on-site social service providers.

The Center expands the capacity of four (4) mentor courts (Hartford, CT; San Francisco, CA; Orange County, CA; and Dallas, TX) to provide technical assistance to other practitioners.

Described pretrial justice fundamentals, relationship to jail populations, and Harris County reform

The primary goal of the 2018 Community Court Grant Program is to develop, support, and strengthen community courts around the country.The goal of this Community Court Grant Program is to provide financial and technical assistance to up to 5 local, state, and tribal jurisdictions in implementing or enhancing a community court. This solicitation offers three community court grant categories: (Category 1) to provide financial and technical assistance to implement or enhance up to five community courts ; (Category 2) to provide financial and technical assistance for an impact evaluation of an established community court ; and (Category 3) to provide technical assistance to up to five mentor community courts .

NACDL is in the process of creating a webinar about facial recognition software – the way it is used by law enforcement, its potential for racial bias, and defenses that might be raised against its use and admission in trial. Currently, NACDL has confirmed Clare Garvie, an associate with Georgetown’s Center for Privacy and Technology, as a speaker for the webinar.

Last year, NACDL released its first report on South Carolina's summary courts, Summary Injustice: A Look at Constitutional Deficiencies in South Carolina's Summary Courts. This first report was a joint project with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of South Carolina. Then, earlier this year, NACDL released its second report on South Carolina's summary courts, Rush to Judgment: How South Carolina's Summary Courts Fail to Protect Constitutional Rights.

Center staff moderate and maintain the Community Court Grant Program listserv with over 100 practitioners nationally who are part of the various planning teams of the ten subgrantee sites. In addition to moderating field-generated posting, Center staff post regularly to the listserv, including funding announcements, practitioner resources, queries from the field, and announcements about the planning and enhancement projects of each of the ten grantee sites.

Center staff moderate and maintain the “Court Builders” listserv with over 438 practitioners nationally who are planning or operating a community justice project, whether a formal community court or an initiative drawing upon the experiences of community court. In addition to moderating field-generated posting, Center staff post regularly to the listserv, including funding announcements, newly available research, practitioner resources, queries from the field, and promising practices.

TTA staff will respond to phone and email requests for assistance, which includes document reviews, from criminal justice practitioners around the country.