This is the fifth in a series that deals with an authentically chaotic criminal justice system found in nearly every large community in California, if not in the entire Western world. My focus is specifically on our city of San Francisco where the District Attorney, George Gascón, has launched a pilot program, called Neighborhood Court. As the DA likes to say, “As a restorative justice program, Neighborhood Courts will strengthen communities undermined by criminal activity.” I think the DA can pull it off.
It is my intention in these reports to promote public confidence in the integrity of the Neighborhood Court process. Call it a cause, even a mission if you’d like. Whatever you call it, it is my passion to describe it to you. To be in close and to be able to witness the birth of an important evolution in our judicial system is significant enough to gain my full attention as a freelance writer.
Who knows? This might be so much fun that I will want to take on the state of our public education system in the spring of 2012.
The responsibility being the Prosecutor of this ambitious pilot program is huge. Ultimately, the DA placed the entire task onto the shoulders of one person. As we all can easily imagine, in that capacity it becomes a critical point of contact because each and every cited individual will meet with the Prosecutor. How many is that? Well, in the Mission and Bayview districts for example, police issue between 30 and 50 citations a day. Those who receive one will be given two choices - a court date in six weeks or a chance to see the Prosecutor immediately. So before the offender appears before the panelists at neighborhood court, he's already admitted his guilt and expressed his interest in wiping the crime off his record. Commit the crime today, see the Prosecutor tomorrow and be in neighborhood court quickly. That is what is promised. That is what is required to make this work. We are off to a good start, let me tell you.
More case studies next time.
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Showing posts with label Neighborhood Court. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Neighborhood Court. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
NEIGHBORHOOD COURT
This is the second of a series of fictionalized narratives will deal with the authentically chaotic criminal justice system in San Francisco and what our highly regarded District Attorney, George Gascón, has undertaken to discourage the endemic criminal violations that impact our city’s neighborhoods. His pilot program, called Neighborhood Court, was announced during the spring of 2011 and is now well on its way of making a difference in our lives. As a restorative justice program, Neighborhood Courts will strengthen communities undermined by criminal activity. That is Gascón’s ambitious goal.
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Not being familiar with Muni bus routes and schedules in this particular part of San Francisco, I arrive later than I had hoped at the neighborhood community center where today’s court will take place. There are only five minutes remaining before the doors will be opened and today’s session will get underway (at 1 p.m. sharp).
I am a newly trained panelist candidate here to observe the first of two Neighborhood Court sessions I must attend before I can be assigned as a Judicial Panelist in good standing. Maggie G., a seasoned volunteer adjudicator, is assigned by the DA’s office to be today’s facilitator and given the title of Judge/Arbitrator. Maggie graciously introduces herself to me as well as to Michael K. and Sarah R., the other two volunteers making up the panel. Also in attendance is Officer Max T. of the SF Police Department who assigned to this district’s station. His duties are to read aloud the police report pertaining to each case and also to provide security to the hearing as may be needed.
I’m reminded that I can only observe today’s process without making any comments or suggestions during the proceedings. It is recommended that I write down any comments, questions or suggestions that arise and discuss them with the panel at the end of the hearing day. With just a minute or two to go before opening the proceedings, Maggie includes me in her final instructions to her fellow volunteers, “Be positive, direct and honest. And by all means listen with courtesy and empathy. Okay, let’s do it.” With that we were ready to get underway.
It is announced that there are only cases scheduled to be heard during the next two hours. Not everyone charged has arrived in the outer office but there are individuals and cases to be heard at once.
Case number one - Wayne D. - Violation: Drinking in Public - Muni Police Code -21
Maggie thanks him for coming in and reminds him that this is a voluntary process and that he is free to leave at anytime. If that is his choice, she continues, his case will be sent back to the District Attorney who may charge his case and which case he will be required go into regular court and before a judge in black robes. Wayne states that he understands and that wishes to remain.
Wayne is a black male about 50-years of age who comes off as very dignified and handsome in his carefully trimmed goatee. He proudly tells the panel that he retired from the U.S. Coast Guard nearly twenty years ago and has never been able to find steady work. For “pocket money” he recycles bottles and cans. The police report states that eleven days ago he was cited for having a full and open can of beer near a church on a Sunday where parents and kids were present when he was confronted and cited by two officers on bicycles. When asked for his recollection of the circumstances, Wayne tells a sad but somewhat humorous story, to my way of thinking:
“It was about 11 a.m. and was I was pushing my shopping card full of empties down the street just like I always do. I seen an acquaintance there on my regular route and stopped to have a chat. We went to elementary school together a long time ago. Well, he gave me one empty can of beer for my collection and had just popped opened a second, when he seen two cops coming up from behind me. What he does is not say nothing but just hands me the full can and he takes off down the street and disappears around the corner. The cops that I never seen coming pull over and there I stand with the full can of beer. Like I said, I never even seen them coming.”
At that point Wayne is asked to wait outside while the panel discusses the matter. The panel quickly decides to dismiss the case. Wayne is asked to come back into the room and is given the panel’s decision. He agrees to do his collecting in the future away from where good people assemble. He thanks the panel for their understanding and leaves to go about his business. Nicely done, it seems to me.
More about today’s session to continue next time. Please stay tuned.
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..........................................................................................................................
Not being familiar with Muni bus routes and schedules in this particular part of San Francisco, I arrive later than I had hoped at the neighborhood community center where today’s court will take place. There are only five minutes remaining before the doors will be opened and today’s session will get underway (at 1 p.m. sharp).
I am a newly trained panelist candidate here to observe the first of two Neighborhood Court sessions I must attend before I can be assigned as a Judicial Panelist in good standing. Maggie G., a seasoned volunteer adjudicator, is assigned by the DA’s office to be today’s facilitator and given the title of Judge/Arbitrator. Maggie graciously introduces herself to me as well as to Michael K. and Sarah R., the other two volunteers making up the panel. Also in attendance is Officer Max T. of the SF Police Department who assigned to this district’s station. His duties are to read aloud the police report pertaining to each case and also to provide security to the hearing as may be needed.
I’m reminded that I can only observe today’s process without making any comments or suggestions during the proceedings. It is recommended that I write down any comments, questions or suggestions that arise and discuss them with the panel at the end of the hearing day. With just a minute or two to go before opening the proceedings, Maggie includes me in her final instructions to her fellow volunteers, “Be positive, direct and honest. And by all means listen with courtesy and empathy. Okay, let’s do it.” With that we were ready to get underway.
It is announced that there are only cases scheduled to be heard during the next two hours. Not everyone charged has arrived in the outer office but there are individuals and cases to be heard at once.
Case number one - Wayne D. - Violation: Drinking in Public - Muni Police Code -21
Maggie thanks him for coming in and reminds him that this is a voluntary process and that he is free to leave at anytime. If that is his choice, she continues, his case will be sent back to the District Attorney who may charge his case and which case he will be required go into regular court and before a judge in black robes. Wayne states that he understands and that wishes to remain.
Wayne is a black male about 50-years of age who comes off as very dignified and handsome in his carefully trimmed goatee. He proudly tells the panel that he retired from the U.S. Coast Guard nearly twenty years ago and has never been able to find steady work. For “pocket money” he recycles bottles and cans. The police report states that eleven days ago he was cited for having a full and open can of beer near a church on a Sunday where parents and kids were present when he was confronted and cited by two officers on bicycles. When asked for his recollection of the circumstances, Wayne tells a sad but somewhat humorous story, to my way of thinking:
“It was about 11 a.m. and was I was pushing my shopping card full of empties down the street just like I always do. I seen an acquaintance there on my regular route and stopped to have a chat. We went to elementary school together a long time ago. Well, he gave me one empty can of beer for my collection and had just popped opened a second, when he seen two cops coming up from behind me. What he does is not say nothing but just hands me the full can and he takes off down the street and disappears around the corner. The cops that I never seen coming pull over and there I stand with the full can of beer. Like I said, I never even seen them coming.”
At that point Wayne is asked to wait outside while the panel discusses the matter. The panel quickly decides to dismiss the case. Wayne is asked to come back into the room and is given the panel’s decision. He agrees to do his collecting in the future away from where good people assemble. He thanks the panel for their understanding and leaves to go about his business. Nicely done, it seems to me.
More about today’s session to continue next time. Please stay tuned.
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Sunday, July 31, 2011
NEIGHBORHOOD COURT
This series of fictionalized narratives will deal with the authentically chaotic criminal justice system in San Francisco and what our highly regarded District Attorney, George Gascón, has undertaken to discourage the endemic criminal violations that impact our city’s neighborhoods. His pilot program, called Neighborhood Court, was announced during the spring of 2011 and is now well on its way of making a difference in our lives. As a restorative justice program, Neighborhood Courts will strengthen communities undermined by criminal activity. That is Gascón’s ambitious goal.
In the coming weeks and months, I will approach the entire subject of Restorative Justice, by describing:
• The offenders who commit the infractions (sometimes called petty offenses) and the misdemeanors (criminal offense that is less serious than a felony and more serious than an infraction).
• The victims and what the system can do to repair the harm done to them, including issues material, financial, emotional and social.
• The community represented by trained volunteers brought together under compelling circumstances, each seeking in a selfless way to play a role in reinventing as broken judicial system.
To prepare for this task I have positioned myself as an unofficial embed inside the District Attorney’s Neighborhood Court Program as an Adjudicator. I have willingly signed a legal document called a Code of Conduct Agreement that prohibits me from disclosing any confidential information received in the course of my service to Neighborhood Court or employing such confidential information for personal gain. It is my intention to report only my experience as a panelist in ways that intentionally promote public confidence in the integrity of the Neighborhood Court process. That is my tact because it is the truth. Let’s get started, shall we?
Restorative Justice?
Another damn starry-eyed Progressive crusade? Not so fast. I suggest that you had better pay attention. It could very well affect your life, the lives of your children and the lives of your children’s children.
What first caught my attention about the program was the compelling fact that restorative justice has been used by indigenous populations going way back to a time of Native American “sentencing circles” and prehistoric Maori justice in New Zealand. Not matter what it is now called, it is a modern development that assumes that if low-level crimes, such as taxi fare evasion, shoplifting, or selling tobacco to a minor, could be handled in the neighborhood where the violations happened, a different result would be achieved. Instead of going to criminal court for these kinds of “life misdemeanors” the cited offenders are offered a chance to come to an agreement with a "neighborhood court." By simply admitting responsibility, the cited individuals are sent to a panel of community members who listen to his story and sentence him to some kind of "restorative justice," such as cleaning up graffiti or writing a letter of apology. Once he completes the assignment, his record for the offense will be cleared. Hooked yet? Please stay tuned.
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In the coming weeks and months, I will approach the entire subject of Restorative Justice, by describing:
• The offenders who commit the infractions (sometimes called petty offenses) and the misdemeanors (criminal offense that is less serious than a felony and more serious than an infraction).
• The victims and what the system can do to repair the harm done to them, including issues material, financial, emotional and social.
• The community represented by trained volunteers brought together under compelling circumstances, each seeking in a selfless way to play a role in reinventing as broken judicial system.
To prepare for this task I have positioned myself as an unofficial embed inside the District Attorney’s Neighborhood Court Program as an Adjudicator. I have willingly signed a legal document called a Code of Conduct Agreement that prohibits me from disclosing any confidential information received in the course of my service to Neighborhood Court or employing such confidential information for personal gain. It is my intention to report only my experience as a panelist in ways that intentionally promote public confidence in the integrity of the Neighborhood Court process. That is my tact because it is the truth. Let’s get started, shall we?
Restorative Justice?
Another damn starry-eyed Progressive crusade? Not so fast. I suggest that you had better pay attention. It could very well affect your life, the lives of your children and the lives of your children’s children.
What first caught my attention about the program was the compelling fact that restorative justice has been used by indigenous populations going way back to a time of Native American “sentencing circles” and prehistoric Maori justice in New Zealand. Not matter what it is now called, it is a modern development that assumes that if low-level crimes, such as taxi fare evasion, shoplifting, or selling tobacco to a minor, could be handled in the neighborhood where the violations happened, a different result would be achieved. Instead of going to criminal court for these kinds of “life misdemeanors” the cited offenders are offered a chance to come to an agreement with a "neighborhood court." By simply admitting responsibility, the cited individuals are sent to a panel of community members who listen to his story and sentence him to some kind of "restorative justice," such as cleaning up graffiti or writing a letter of apology. Once he completes the assignment, his record for the offense will be cleared. Hooked yet? Please stay tuned.
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