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By Robert Selna
San Francisco Chronicle
Mayor Gavin Newsom and city criminal justice officials announced on Thursday the location of a new court the mayor has been promising to more quickly judge low-level street crimes in the Tenderloin and steer offenders into community service and rehabilitative programs.
But significant questions remained unanswered about what crimes the court will process, how it will be funded and how its performance improving the lives of Tenderloin residents will be measured.
At a press conference inside the new courtroom at Polk and Turk street - just north of Civic Center Plaza - Newsom said the newly-named Community Justice Center will open in July after a five-month trial run at the Hall of Justice, where the city’s other criminal courts are housed.
"We’re blessed that we have a location near the (new) court’s jurisdiction and one where we have room for the social services that will be such a big part of the program here," said Newsom, flanked by District Attorney Kamala Harris, Public Defender Jeff Adachi and other officials.
Newsom first proposed the new court in March after visiting New York City’s Midtown Community Court. He said the San Francisco court would focus on "quality of life" offenses, such as public urination, aggressive panhandling and trespassing.
He said it also would follow the Midtown model, in which police whisk offenders to court, where, if they plead guilty, they’re assigned to community service and receive social services to address underlying problems, such as alcoholism and homelessness.
Newsom initially said the court could be up and running by summer and would improve the way the city handles offenses for which police generally hand out tickets.
But Newsom hatched the plan without first conferring with the courts and subsequently learned that California law doesn’t allow police to arrest and immediately bring before a judge people who are found committing many of the offenses the mayor wants addressed. In California, offenses such as disorderly conduct and blocking sidewalks are considered infractions, for which people are ticketed and are expected to appear in court in 45 days.
In San Francisco, if the recipient of a citation does show up in court, fines are imposed. Bench warrants are issued for people who don’t make their court dates, but police don’t enforce them.
On Thursday, Court Commissioner Ron Albers, who will preside over the nascent court, said it would have jurisdiction over crimes in the Tenderloin, Civic Center, SoMa, and Union Square. He said it would not handle infractions or violent felonies, but said that he had not drawn up a specific list of crimes the court would adjudicate.
"In reality we want to be open to all cases," Albers said. "We want to take the ones that will benefit most from the services we will be offering."
Albers noted that a key provision in the New York Midtown model - processing offenders in court the same day as the offense is committed - would not be possible in San Francisco, even if the offense is a misdemeanor. He said it currently takes six weeks for a case to go before a judge in San Francisco. In the coming months, he said, he hopes to reduce bureaucratic hurdles and cut that time to one week for the Community Justice Center.
One component of the Midtown court that will be repeated in San Francisco - the presence of health and social services on site. Social workers, treatment providers and others will be housed on the floor above the court, so offenders have immediate access to them, Albers said.
As plans for the court move forward, funding remains a question. The Board of Supervisors has placed on reserve the $500,000 Newsom requested for the court, pending presentation of a formal plan. And the city faces a projected $229 million budget shortfall for the new fiscal year starting July 1.
Newsom said the city would seek federal and state grants to support the court’s annual budget, which he estimated to be somewhere between $1 million and $2 million.
He described the court as an experiment and did not commit to a date when its results would be assessed, calling such a timeline "arbitrary."
Albers, though, later said he hoped to have a sense of the court’s impact on crime in the neighborhoods under its jurisdiction by next December.
"We should know by then whether we’re moving cases through faster and whether we are seeing fewer (offenders) coming back through the system," Albers said.
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December 10th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
This idea of a community-court to address low-level misdeameanors committed primarily by homeless in the Tenderloin area is greatly needed to hold this population accountable for their actions. Unless they are held accountable they will not be inclined to make any significant changes. The importance of justice being ’swift and fitting the crime’ is the cornerstone of the criminal justice system along with our Constitution. The problem of homelessness can be solved thru perserverence and good community programs. Also providing resources and hope to this population is important. Having worked with many homeless individuals I believe that giving them hope is one step closer to getting them help. Many of these individuals suffer from low self esteem and have been kept down so long that they don’t really know where to turn. Holding someone accountable for their actions also gives them hope in that it forces them to accept responsibility for their own actions and realize that there are consequences to their behaviors. How does this give one hope? When one assumes a sense of responsibility for one’s own actions then one develops a sense of self-worth, thus has hope that one can be productive in the society that one lives. Alternatives to the lifestyle need to be provided and by reaching out thru a swift criminal justice system and getting these individuals much needed resources will hopefully provide alternatives. Addressing recidivism is a huge part of reducing criminal activities within a society and at this point we do not have enough programs to do this with. Often juveniles go into the system with a first crime and one would think that this might curb them from committing further crime. Well, if they don’t have an alternative to take them from the lifestyle they have grown up with then there is not much hope in this scenario. Often one gets so used to a way of lifestyle that they are unable to change because they know no other way. People must be taught to change behaviors by replacing with new ones and unless there are new ones to replace them with there will not be a lot of change. By holding people accountable this is a start and hopefully a trend will develop within the government here in San Francisco. The Project Homeless Connect is a great help to many people and we need to come together as a community to implement this program on a daily basis for the homeless here in San Francisco and greater Bay Area. We need to each take part in this problem and also take on this burden for individuals that live with much less than we do. This is a tall order for some but everyone can do their part in giving just some time, or money, or something of themselves to help someone in need. The criminal justice system is faulty as well as many programs that depend on the good nature and donations of others. If you have a favorite charity that deals with homelessness then donate money instead of spending it on a zillion worthless gifts this holiday season. If you cannot make a monetary donation then offer your time to go to the homeless shelters and see what you can do to help. Write a letter to someone in a prison and give them hope this holiday season…hope that someone does care about them and that there is help when they leave prison so that they don’t return to a life of crime.
Yes, it is a big tasks but these problems cannot expect to be solved by one person in leadership or one government alone. The Community Court is just a beginning and a great beginning. It will be successful but it is not the end all. There is much more work to be done and many more problems to fix. The good news is that they are all fixable problems if we all work together to implement change and give a part of ourselves to someone in need. Aloha!
December 12th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
This article says that Mayor Gavin Newsom calls this court “an experiment” and I don’t blame him. I am proud that our mayor has the courage to “experiment” because what is in place isn’t working and without trying new approaches to the problems you won’t get any new or better resolutions.
www.allaboutthedragon.com