Episodes

While on a visit to observe practices in New York City, Heather Munro, the chief executive of the London Probation Trust, takes a break to discuss the challenges facing probation in both the U.S. and the United Kingdom and new initiatives, including experiments in England and Wales with high-intensity community sentence projects (which is also the subject of a monograph by Centre for Justice Innovation’s director Phil Bowen). November 2012 Judge Joseph Gubbay welcomes observers, including Ch...

Phil Bowen, co-author of Payback with a Purpose and director of the Centre for Justice Innovation in the U.K., discusses what good “community payback” (“community service” in the U.S.) should look like, comparing the experience in the U.K. with New York City. The debate about what community payback ought to be comes at a crucial time for probation services in England and Wales, where the Government is committed to encouraging non-state organizations to provide community payback. SARAH SCH...

Dr. Mara Schiff, an associate professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida Atlantic University, focuses her work on restorative justice, community justice, and juvenile justice. Here, she gives on overview of restorative practices and discusses why a restorative approach can be particularly valuable for youth. October 2012 SARAH SCHWEIG: I’m Sarah Schweig of the Center for Court Innovation and today on New Thinking I’m speaking with Dr. Mara Schiff. Dr. Schiff is a...

Under Chief Michael A. Davis, the police officers of Brooklyn Park, a suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul, pursue community building. ROB WOLF: Hi, I’m Rob Wolf, Director of Communication at the Center for Court Innovation. This New Thinking podcast is focused on policing and the ideas of community building and police legitimacy. On the phone with me today is Michael Davis, the chief of police of Brooklyn Park, which, with about 80,000 people is the second largest suburb of Minneapolis – Saint P...

A multi-faceted partnership to lower violence in one of Brooklyn’s most beleaguered neighborhoods gets a major boost with the announcement of $599,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Justice. Among those speaking at a press conference to announce the grant are Denise E. O’Donnell, director of the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Loretta E. Lynch, and Brooklyn District Attorney Char...

Angela Irvine, director of research in the Criminal Justice Division of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, sat down for this podcast interview after participating in a research roundtable on youth courts that was sponsored by the Center for Court Innovation and the Lowenstein Family Foundation on July 18, 2012. Irvine also discusses research into lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender justice-involved youth. ROBERT V. WOLF: I’m Rob Wolf, director of communications at the Center ...

The graduation of seven fathers serves as a jumping off point for Liberty Aldrich, director of the Center for Court Innovation’s family and domestic violence programming, to discuss the Kings County Parent Support Program, which links non-custodial parents with needed services to increase child support payments and maintain healthy parent-child relationships. ROBERT V. WOLF: Hi, I’m Rob Wolf, director of communications at the Center for Court Innovation. And today I’m talking with Liberty ...

Gail Pendleton, co-director of ASISTA, which advises and trains advocates and attorneys who work with immigrant survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, discusses some of the complex issues non-citizen survivors face. July 2012 SARAH SCHWEIG: Hi, I’m Sarah Schweig at the Center for Court Innovation and today I’m speaking with Gail Pendleton about how issues around domestic violence become far more complicated when they involve victims with pending immigration status. Gail Pendleto...

David Adams, co-founder and co-director of Emerge, the first counseling program in the nation for men who abuse women, discusses the inner workings, challenges, and potential benefits of group counseling for men who batter. (July 2012) SARAH SCHWEIG: Hi, I’m Sarah Schweig, of the Center for Court Innovation, and today I’m speaking with Dr. David Adams. Dr. Adams is co-founder and co-director of Emerge, the first counseling program in the nation for men who abuse women. He is one of the nati...

Peacemaker Administrator Anna Francis-Jack discusses tribal history and how The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington State have launched and grown their peacemaking program. May 2012 ROBERT V. WOLF: Hi, I’m Rob Wolf, director of communications at the Center for Court Innovation. During a visit to the Colville tribes in Washington State, I had a chance to interview a number of different people about peacemaking, which is a traditional Native American approach to justi...

During a visit by the Tribal Justice Exchange to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington State, Robert V. Wolf talks with two elders–Matthew Dick Jr. and Darlene Wilder–and a client about peacemaking, a traditional Native American approach to resolving both criminal and civil issues. May 2012 ROB WOLF: Hi, I’m Rob Wolf, director of communications at the Center for Court Innovation. In this New Thinking podcast, the focus is on peacemaking, the traditional Native Am...

Mark Halsey of Flinders University Law School discusses key findings of an evaluation of Australia’s first community court. ROBERT V. WOLF: Hi, I’m Rob Wolf, director of communications at the Center for Court Innovation and I’m in Washington D.C. at Community Justice 2012. I’m speaking with Mark Halsey. He’s a professor of criminal justice at the Flinders Law School in Adelaide, Australia, and he was also one of the joint leaders of the team that evaluated the Melbourne Neighbourhood Justice...

A new building in Milliken, Colorado, houses a community court, police station and social services in an effort to foster collaboration among agencies and be more user-friendly for both the public and staff. Jim Burack, town administrator and chief of police, discusses the logic behind the building’s design. The following is a transcript of the conversation. ROBERT V. WOLF: Hi, I’m Rob Wolf, director of communications at the Center for Court Innovation, and I’m at Community Justice 2012 i...

Burke Fitzpatrick administers the Office of Justice Programs in South Carolina’s Department of Public Safety, which distributes federal justice dollars to programs in the state. In this interview, he explains why he thinks problem-solving courts have been a good investment and what he looks for in a funding application. The following is a transcript of the interview. ROBERT V. WOLF: For anyone trying to start a new program, funding is crucial. The big question is, how do you attract dolla...

Crown Counsel Adam Dalrymple explains how the Downtown Vancouver Community Court uses community service assignments to match offenders with organizations that address their social service needs. The following is a transcript of the interview. ROBERT V. WOLF: Is it possible to punish an offender and help them at the same time? The Downtown Vancouver Community Court assigns offenders to restitution projects and the very social services that can help them. I’m Rob Wolf, Director of Communica...

Kurt Sandstrom, assistant deputy minister of Alberta Justice in Alberta, Canada discusses his province’s efforts to break cycles of offending with integrated, evidence-based services. ROBERT V. WOLF: Hi, I’m Rob Wolf, Director of Communications at the Center for Court Innovation and I am at Community Justice 2012 at the end of January in Washington, D.C. And I am speaking with Kurt Sandstrom who is Deputy – KURT SANDSTROM: Assistant Deputy Minister – WOLF: Thank you Kurt – for Alberta Ju...

Sociologist Andrew Papachristos focuses his studies on urban neighborhoods, social networks, street gangs, violent crime, and gun violence. A Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar at Harvard University, Papachristos discusses how social network analysis can aid crime prevention. SARAH SCHWEIG: Hi, I’m Sarah Schweig at the Center for Court Innovation, and today I’m speaking with Andrew Papachristos. We are currently in an executive session in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the Califo...

Dan Cipullo, director of the Criminal Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, discusses why and how the court expanded its community court approach from one neighborhood to cover the entire city. ROBERT V. WOLF: Hi, I’m Rob Wolf, director of communications at the Center for Court Innovation and I am in Washington, D.C., at Community Justice 2012, which is the International Conference of Community Courts. And I’m speaking with Dan Cipullo, who is the director of the Crimi...

Judge Paul M. Herbert of the Changing Actions To Change Habits Court in Ohio’s Franklin County Municipal Court explains how a problem-solving approach to prostitution treats offenders as victims, giving them the support and links to social services they need to escape a cycle of exploitation and abuse.

Queens County (NY) Judge Fernando Camacho discusses why he created a prostitution diversion court that helps victims leave a life of prostitution by linking them to counseling and social services instead of sentencing them to jail time. SARAH SCHWEIG: Hi, I’m Sarah Schweig of the Center for Court Innovation, and today I’m speaking with Judge Fernando Camacho. Judge Camacho is currently a Queens County Administrative Judge for Criminal Matters. He has served as Deputy Supervising Judge at t...

The Center for Court Innovation celebrated its 15th anniversary on Oct. 4, 2011 at the Chelsea Art Museum with the help of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, Center Director Greg Berman, and Mayoral Advisor John Feinblatt, who was the evening’s honoree. ROBERT V. WOLF: Hi. I’m Rob Wolf, director of communication at the Center for Court Innovation and tonight we’re celebrating our 15th anniversary. What follows are some excerpts from tonight’s speakers, sta...

Yvonne Byrd, director of the Montpelier Community Justice Center, Karen Vastine, the community justice coordinator in Burlington, and Marc Wennberg, director of the St. Alban’s Community Justice Center, explain how volunteers help craft restorative responses to crime and conflict in Vermont. ROBERT V. WOLF: Hi, I’m Rob Wolf, director of communications at the Center for Court Innovation, and today I’m lucky to have three guests from Vermont, all of whom are involved with community driven ju...

T.J. Donovan, the state’s attorney for Chittenden County, explains a new initiative in Burlington, Vermont, that mandates community restitution and participation in social services as alternatives to court or incarceration. ROBERT V. WOLF: I’m Rob Wolf, director of Communications at the Center for Court Innovation and I’m here with T.J. Donovan, the state’s attorney of Chittenden County, Vermont, which includes Burlington. That’s the state’s largest city, is that right? T.J. DONOVAN: That’...

Barbara Thompson, director of the Department of Defense’s Office of Family Policy/Children and Youth, discusses the impacts that prolonged deployment of a parent or sibling can have on children. This is one of three podcasts produced in collaboration with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. SARAH SCHWEIG: Hi, I’m Sarah Schweig of the Center for Court Innovation and this is one in a series of special podcasts the Center is doing with the support and assistance of the Na...