U. S. Judicial System

b. Prosecutors in lieu of a complaint being authorized

c. Judges in lieu of trial

d. Go voluntarily

Community Courts/Neighborhood Justice Centers…continued

* Suspect and victim appear before a board of citizens drawn from the local neighborhood who listen to the case.

* Typically both the suspect and victim are asked to appear as there is almost always some mutual culpability and thus some mutual compensation that will need to be forthcoming.

* Citizen board members are not paid.

* No legal representation is allowed.

* The Community Court proceeds in an informal fashion.

* The Community Courts utilizes either the:

1. Arbitration Model – citizen judges hear both sides and render a decision

2. Mediation Model – citizen judges actively interact with the dissenting parties and help work out a

Community Courts/Neighborhood Justice Centers…continued

The Community Court reaches a mutually agreeable, non-

legally binding resolution. That decisions nearly always

required both sides in the dispute to engage in some form of

compensation/restitution (reflects the mutual culpability

principle).

If no agreeable conclusion is reached, or, if one party fails to

fulfill the community court assignment, the case can go forward

into the regular judicial system, but this rarely happens.

Upward of 90% of the cases are mutually resolved at the

Community Court hearing, and 90% of those resolved cases

result in both parties completing their Community Court

assignments, yielding an aggregate 80% success rate.

Community Courts/Neighborhood Justice Centers…continued

If the matter is successfully resolved/the Community

Court resolution is adhered to by all parties involved

(which occurs 80% of the time), the justice officials

who referred the matter to the Community Courts