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At the Justice Through Efficiency forum on Monday, criminal justice innovators shared lessons about managing a crowded urban justice system. The forum was particularly timely, as Cook County looks for ways to reduce its jail population safely and cost-effectively.

You can read the complete bios of panelists in this program. Below are some of the highlights from each speaker, along with some of our thoughts:

 

Pamela Dembe — President Judge, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas

Stop pointing fingers–and change will come quickly.

Judge Dembe emphasized more than once the need for collaboration among elected leadership. As hard as it may seem, she said, elected officials need to cut each other enough slack to share ideas, admit mistakes, and get past past transgressions. “Once you stop pointing fingers, you give yourself some breathing room,” said the judge of more than twenty years.

Proving her point, Dembe has been part of an extraordinary effort among Philadelphia’s justice system stakeholders in the past few years. The court, District Attorney’s Office, Police and others have collaborated to improve Philadelphia’s operational efficiency in many ways. Their successes are described in a 2012 Pew Report, “Philadelphia’s Less Costly, Less Crowded Jails.”

One effort was  converting the court to a paperless system. “Every piece of paper is like a cow chewing up dollar bills,” said Judge Dembe. But paperless systems cut down on the vexing problem of missing files or unwillingness to share documents. Because the files are now digital, parties have no excuse for not sharing.

 

Paul Logli — State’s Attorney of Winnebago County (retired)

Common sense and good data can solve many justice policy problems.

In addition to decades of experience as a judge and state’s attorney, Paul Logli brought his latest professional experience to bear on the issue. As President of United Way of Winnebago county, Logli works with agencies addressing poverty, substance abuse, homelessness news and behavioral changes. The justice system, he pointed out, addresses many of the very same issues. But because the justice system is not intended to solve social problems, it attempts to do so through a “trial and error” approach. And too often, justice systems do not evaluate the trials and spot the errors, leading to many avoidable mistakes. One of those mistakes, in his view, is substituting strict prosecutorial policies for discretion in order to be “tough on crime.”

Logli recommends using good data and practicality to best serve justice-involved individuals. For example, as State’s Attorney, Mr. Logli looked at court data and found that failures to appear were costing the system a great deal in terms of needless delays and executing arrest warrants. Upon examination, he learned that most failures to appear were not deliberate, but rather inadvertent. In response, just like a doctor’s office, Winnebago county began notifying defendants of upcoming court dates using an inexpensive robocall.

We add that such court reminder programs have been the subject of several randomized studies, where they have been shown to cut failures to appear by nearly half.

Toni Preckwinkle — Cook County Board President

Efficient needn’t mean unfair.

In her opening remarks, President Preckwinkle noted, “Efficiency in this context means thoughtful and thorough, not fast and careless.” Preckwinkle acknowledge some of the barriers to reform in such a large system, including the taboo nature of the subject.

She later cited Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow, which powerfully contends that our current justice system policy perpetuates a race-based caste system. The book also argues that individuals not directly affected by the system are deeply reluctant to confront it.

Preckwinkle said she had admonished the media for not giving these issues more attention. She argued that the issue would receive more attention if white or affluent people were incarcerated at the same rate as non-white and poor people. Though many were invited, no members of the media were present at the forum.

Pointing out both subtle and more obvious ways that Cook County’s justice system disproportionately harms poor and nonwhite individuals, we have long argued for more alternatives to incarceration. A Chicago Reporter report  just found that in some of Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods, public spending on incarceration is more than twice the amount spent on education.

 

 

Randolph Stone, former Cook County Public Defender and Director of University of Chicago Law School’s Criminal & Juvenile Justice Project

Sometimes slowing down improves efficiency.  

For example, public defenders who are swamped by their pending caseloads, may be inclined to rush interviews with new clients. But automating steps that demand a human touch will undermine efficiency goals. Treat the person like a person, Professor Stone noted, and you’ll also cut down on claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and wrongful conviction.

In the long term, you’ll also improve perceived legitimacy. In other words, humane justice systems give people greater faith in them.

We add that numerous studies show that systems perceptions of legitimacy have a significant impact on law enforcement. This is because perceptions of fairness and effectiveness affect the public’s behavior at all stages of the criminal justice process: the willingness of individuals to cooperate with the authorities, to defer to the decisions of police officers and judges, to continue to accept decisions in the long term, and the willingness to adhere to the law and avoid illegal activities.

 

Chief Thomas — Chief of Police for Aurora, Illinois

Get at the root of delinquency.

Chief Thomas viewed truancy as a problem not solved by traditional law enforcement. Truant students are often perceived to be “bad kids,” but Chief Thomas found that stereotype to be unfair. Kids miss school for all kinds of reasons that have nothing to do with their personal choices. Some are caring for a younger sibling or ill grandparent, others are providing economic support to their families by working, and still others are avoiding school because something bad has happened to them there. Rather than punish those kids or their parents, Chief Thomas has tackled problems like truancy with public education and social programs.

We add that schools across the nation are referring students to the police for lesser and lesser infractions. In Illinois, the practice affects minorities disproportionately. If police respond the way Chief Thomas has, there may be hope of narrowing the school-to-prison pipeline.

Audience members presented many fantastic questions. You can now watch the full discussion here:

 http://blog.cookcountygov.com/2013/05/16/watch-our-justice-through-efficiency-panel-discussion/