Into the Abyss: Court Solutions

Establishing the role of gang prosecutor:
The impact of prosecutors with specialized knowledge of gangs and gang-related legislation may be enhanced through caseload specialization. Candice Kane, author of Prosecutor: Technical Assistance Manual, "urges prosecutors to assign specially selected and trained assistants to gang cases." (Kane, 1992, page)

When the same prosecutor tries all gang-related cases, over time he or she will accumulate valuable intelligence on the gangs. Knowing, for example, who "runs" with who may help a prosecutor in establishing a gang connection between one offender and another. Depending upon the jurisdiction in question, being able to identify an offender as a gang member may allow for enhanced punishment.

Similarly, when one prosecutor (or more, if needed) continues to present cases, judges will become better informed about the gang situation in the community because the prosecutor is better able to inform them. By aligning gang-dedicated prosecutors with gang-dedicated police, juvenile officers, and probation/parole officers, the community has a much better chance of reducing gang activity and youth violence.

Create a District Attorney (Prosecutor) Gang Unit:
The Orange County (CA) District Attorney has created a Gang Unit within that office that specialized in prosecuting gang cases. It was created in 1988 to provide a vertical prosecution approach to all gang-involved, violent felony case filings. In vertical prosecution, "one attorney handles all aspects of a complex case, from review and filing through trial or plea to sentencing." (Source) The unit handles gang-motivated adult felony cases and serious juvenile gang cases and files charges on all cases involving guns and gangs. There's an additional Victim-Witness Services Team that assists the prosecutor. (Source)

Practicing a policy of restorative justice:
Prosecutors and judges could support the introduction and wider use of a balanced and restorative justice philosophy (where the punishment fits the harm done and compensates the victims for their loss). When confronted by their victims in a process of mediation, youthful offenders often - and for the first time - realize the impact of their behavior on innocent victims and, as a result, modify their behavior positively. Sentences which provide for meaningful community service may benefit both the offender and the community and should be imposed wherever appropriate.

Help reduce gun violence through cooperative efforts:
Police, probation/parole officers, and prosecutors in Boston (MA) identified the core, violent youthful offenders in that city then visited them at night, by surprise, to let them know they have been identified for an intensive monitoring project. The project is known as the Boston Gun Project and has been identified as one of several "Promising Strategies" for reducing gun violence by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Offenders are offered two choices, go straight (and resources are provided to help them develop job skills and get a job) or stay on their current path. If they choose the latter, it is explained that they will be aggressively prosecuted. In fact, their cases will be prioritized for immediate disposition and they will be dealt with harshly.

Supporting community-based prevention and intervention efforts:
"The prosecutor is ... urged to work closely with colleagues in the criminal justice system - especially police and probation officers, and representatives of the schools, local businesses, social service organizations, community-based youth agencies, grassroots organizations, parents and youth themselves to plan, coordinate, and implement an effective strategy to reduce gang violence. When appropriate, the prosecutor is encouraged to take the lead in mobilizing the community to respond to the gang problem." (Kane, 1992, page)

Field Note: The chairperson of this community-wide task force on gangs and youth violence is the county's chief prosecutor. Although he is an experienced trial lawyer and has been successful at winning death penalty cases, his first priority is to support efforts which are aimed at prevention and intervention, particularly among the community's youth. He even allocates a portion of his annual budget to pay for mailings and brochures developed to educate the community about the availability of prevention and intervention programs.

Bringing delinquent youths to court at the earliest age possible:
Every effort should be made to encourage law enforcement officers and juvenile prosecutors to bring to court youths who violate the law at an early age. "Court intervention should start early in an attempt to interrupt developmental pathways before serious, violent, and chronic delinquency emerges." (Kurlychek, et al., 1999, page)

Creating a Drug Court:
"Drug courts use the coercive power of the criminal justice system to achieve abstinence and alter criminal behavior through a combination of judicial supervision, treatment, drug testing, incentives, sanctions, and case management." (Center for Drug Court Innovation, page, also see http://www.courtinnovation.org/)

"According to Karen Freeman-Wilson, President of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, the philosophy which drives the drug court concept is that "coerced treatment works, that [the courts] serve society best by addressing underlying challenges faced by criminal offender, and that continuously incarcerating drug-addicted, non-violent offenders has no long term benefit for the offender or society." (page)

Given the relationship between drug offenses and gang affiliation, the drug court concept may help reduce gang activity by reducing gang members' drug dependency and addiction.

Sponsoring the creation of a Teen Court for minor and first-time offenders:

"There are four models of teen courts now in operation: Adult Judge - An adult serves as judge and rules on legal terminology and courtroom procedure. Youth serve as attorneys, jurors, clerks, bailiffs, etc.; Youth Judge - This is similar to the adult judge model, but a youth serves as judge; Tribunal- Youth attorneys present the case to a panel of three youth judges, who decide the appropriate disposition for the defendant. A jury is not used; and Peer Jury - This model does not use youth attorneys. The case is presented to a youth jury by a youth or adult. The youth jury then questions the defendant directly.

"Forty-seven percent of all teen courts use the adult judge model, 12% use the peer jury model, 10% use the tribunal model, and 9% use the youth judge model. The remaining 22% use more than one case-processing model.

"Most teen courts do not determine the guilt or innocence of youth. Rather, they serve as diversion alternatives and youth must admit to the charges against them in order to qualify for teen court.

"Teen courts usually handle first-time offenders charged with offenses such as theft, misdemeanor assault, disorderly conduct, and possession of alcohol. The majority of teen courts (87%) reported they 'rarely' or 'never' accepted youth with prior arrest records, and 98% reported that they 'rarely' or 'never' accepted youth with prior felony arrests. Respondents reported that, on average, 24% of their cases involved youth under age 14 and 66% involved youth under age 16." (Butts, et al., 1999, page)

You can learn how to implement a teen court program and read up on the latest research on their effectiveness.

	Adopting an activist position by visiting community-based agencies: Through personal involvement, judges learn more about community-based anti-violence and anti-gang programs, the community's youths, and the schools. Judges who take an activist position and visit the community-based programs to which they sentence offenders, speak to students in the schools, and in other ways involve themselves in the community stimulate the residents to take action and help further a sense of professionalism and community involvement among other professionals in the justice system.
	Mandating the creation of needed services: Mandate the creation of community-based services needed to reduce youth violence and gangs and additional support for those which already do. Among the known predictors of violent and gang behavior in youth are school failure (establishing the need for tutoring or special education programs), substance abuse (establishing the need for preventive education and early identification or intervention in such behavior), and violence in the home (aimed directly at the child or at others in the home). The court can mandate the establishment or enhancement of community-based services which address these causative factors.
	Imposing special probation conditions for gang offenders: The Gang Offender Probation Program in Houston "was developed to improve judicial oversight of gang members on probation by partnering probation and law enforcement officers for increased supervision. More intensive probation requirements were imposed on gang members, including participation in gang offender treatment programs. Through close monitoring of the activities of gang members under supervision, the courts are able to provide more assistance to first-time offenders." (page)