“Are there better ways to do our business?”
So asks New York State Chief Judge Jonathon Lippman, who has work within New York’s court system for over forty years, 15 of them as a judge. During a recent interview with The Center for Court Innovation, Judge Lippman says the title question is what led New York to begin reforming its court systems 15 years ago. The courts began thinking of ways to administer justice more effectively and more efficiently, including embracing diversion as a means to reduce incarceration.
That is the core of Chicago Appleseed’s mission: to identify better ways for legal systems to do the “business” of justice. Toward this end, we are currently drafting a blueprint for how Cook County can reduce both the tax and human costs of incarceration. We have consulted with numerous criminal justice experts and stakeholders, including The Center for Court Innovation, so that our recommendations are informed and confirmed by experience and evidence-based research.
The Center for Court Innovation is co-hosting a free Innovations in Criminal Justice Summit in Chicago next week. The summit, co-sponsored by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys will:
“. . . highlight 10 innovative criminal justice practices. These innovative practices focus on probationary strategies, community and intelligence-led prosecution programs, policing practices, judicial procedures, reentry, mental health courts, holistic defense (public defender initiative), homicide review commissions and addressing chronic offenders. This summit is open to all criminal justice partners and those interested in learning about innovative practices which are creating a more effective and efficient system of justice.”
Register for the summit here. Chicago Appleseed staff will be in attendance.