Despite Perception, Many Big CA Court Awards Feature Biz v. Biz Cases

Complaints about anti-business lawsuits and astronomical jury verdicts are common, notes California Watch. But data compiled by the National Law Journal – and highlighted by the Consumer Attorneys of California, which fights restrictions on lawsuits – shows a different dynamic was in play in the state's courts last year. The biggest verdicts in California in 2011, including a $2.32 billion award made by a jury in Los Angeles, came in lawsuits in which one big corporation sued another. That trend undercuts the complaint that abuse of the legal system is creating a poor business climate, argued J.G. Preston, spokesman for the lawyers group.

“The big money in California lawsuits isn’t going to people suing businesses, or even people suing other individuals,” he wrote in a summary of the California verdicts. “It’s going to businesses suing other businesses, typically in intellectual property or breach of contract suits.” The top three California verdicts involved complex business disputes in which hundreds of millions in profits were at stake. In the biggest verdict, St. Jude Medical Inc., which manufactures pacemakers, sued a Chinese medical manufacturer called Nervicon, claiming theft of trade secrets. The jury awarded $2.32 billion in damages.

Community Courts Help Make Justice System Credible, Robinson Says

Community courts have been successful in large part because of "their focus on making the justice system credible and relevant to the people it serves," Assistant U.S. Attorney General Laurie Robinson told an international conference on community justice today in Washington, D.C. The conference was organized by the New York City-based Center for Court Innovation. Robinson credited former Attorney General Janet Reno with starting the first drug court in Miami. In 1994, there were only 11 drug courts; now there are more than 3,500 "problem-solving" courts in the U.S., Robinson said.

"Community courts, drug courts, mental health courts, reentry courts, and the rest really exemplify American innovation," Robinson said. She noted that New York City's Midtown Community Court, which began in the 1990s,  has been proved by research to have reduced local crime and revived public trust in the justice system. Robinson also mentioned the emphasis on collaboration in community courts, citing the South Dallas, Tx., Community Court and its "entire community center offering a variety of services for both defendants and community residents – things like health care, job training, housing, and benefits assistance. These are the resources that help prevent individuals from returning to court again and again – and this type of coordination is typical of community courts." Robinson said community courts operate on a "procedural justice" model that makes offenders "feel like they’ve been treated with respect," making them "more likely to accept court decisions – even those that go against them."

GA Supreme Court Judge Urges Lawmakers to Reform Juvenile Justice

The chief justice of Georgia's Supreme Court urged lawmakers to overhaul its juvenile justice system in the same way state leaders have proposed focusing more heavily on rehabilitating rather than jailing nonviolent adult offenders, reports the Associated Press. Chief Justice Carol Hunstein made the comments Wednesday in her annual State of the Judiciary address. She said that putting nonviolent youth offenders into juvenile jails increases the likelihood they will commit crimes in the future, wastes public money and exposes them to violence and abuse.

State funding cuts have limited access to mental health and child welfare services along with group homes, Hunstein said. As a result, she said juvenile judges sometimes face the choice of sending young offenders to lock-up facilities or sending them home "to get nothing at all." She cited statistics from the Department of Juvenile Justice showing that in the past three years, nearly two-thirds of the roughly 10,000 incarcerated young people have substance abuse problems. More than one-third had mental health problems. "As with adults, we have learned that our get-tough tactics have failed to scare juvenile offenders straight," Hunstein said.

A New Paradigm for Public Safety

A new report seeks to pave a path to give victims of crime a greater voice in criminal justice policymaking.

An Optimistic Counterpoint for the Holidays

By Erik Roskes

During this holiday season, I thought I would take a break from my usual criticisms to point out how well things can go when people simply refuse to give up and accept the “inevitable.”

GA Panel Seeks Sentencing Reforms To Avoid $250 Million in Prison Costs

Shortening sentences for some nonviolent offenses and creating a statewide network of specialized courts could help avoid spending $250 million...

The GOP and Criminal Justice

By Steve Yoder

Many of the leading Republican contenders in the presidential race have pushed reformist 'smart on crime' agendas. But will those agendas survive if one of them sits in the White House?

How Washington, D.C., Youth Court Tries to Get Kids Back on Track

The New York Times profiles Washington, D.C.'s Youth Court, one of 1,000 such institutions around the nation. The capital's youth court heard 675 cases in the last fiscal year. About one fifth of juveniles arrested in the city are sent to the court, which tends to work with older teens and more serious offenses than do other youth courts. The court is designed to give first-time non-violent offenders between 12 and 17 a way to stay out of the formal juvenile justice system. Cases are heard by juries composed of the offenders’ peers: other teens who have been through the same process — some as recently as the week before.

Local judicial officials must agree to divert an arrested teen to the court. It can’t investigate guilt or innocence, so teens who don’t admit responsibility stay in the formal system. In Youth Court, a teenager can be sentenced to write essays, make apologies, attend boys’ or girls’ discussion groups, or pay restitution; almost everyone is sentenced to serve on the Youth Court jury. Teens who don’t complete the requirements in 120 days go back to a real judge. “The idea is to take that first encounter with the law, especially for minor things, and use it to put them back on the right track, turn it into something positive,” said Carolyn Dallas, the court's director. Since 2003, the one-year re-arrest rate for people who come through Youth Court is 11 percent, compared to the formal juvenile justice re-arrest rate of about 25 percent.

Nashville Gives Tough Sentences To Homeless: Is It Fair?

A controversial Nashville police program aimed at reducing crimes by homeless people has saved money since it was launched this year, but it also has drawn...

Criminal Justice: What Works? What Doesn’t?

By Ted Gest

New York City treatment courts, Hawaii’s Project HOPE, and "parent-child interaction therapy" are among top-rated programs highlighted by a new online evaluation project of the Department of Justice.

Field Poll: California voters favor revamping 'three-strikes' law

By Sam Stanton

Most California voters see a court order to reduce the state's prison population by 30,000 inmates as a serious problem, and nearly three out of four say it is time to revamp the state's "three-strikes" law, a Field Poll out today finds.

Bail Bond Reform Dies in Washington State Dispute

An effort to tighten up Washington state's largely unregulated bail-bond industry died in the waning days of the legislative session over of an ideological...

NV Governor's Budget Shift Endangers Mental Health Courts

Las Vegas' mental health court has kept mentally ill people out of jails and emergency rooms after committing crimes ranging from petty larceny to assault, but it could vanish July 1, says the Las Vegas Sun. That’s because Gov. Brian Sandoval’s call for shared sacrifice to help solve the state’s budget deficit would kill such courts in three counties.

Advocates argue that Sandoval’s proposal to make counties, rather than the state, fund mental health courts won’t work because the counties are strapped for money. Among those leading the outcry is Judge Jackie Glass, who helped start Clark County’s mental health court in 2003 after it received seed money through a federal grant. Since the court was established 107 participants have graduated from the program. “It’s a shame that the governor didn’t put that funding in the budget,” Glass said. “The individuals who would be helped will have a very difficult time receiving treatment.” That, she said, would lead to more recidivism.

How a ‘Tough-on-Crime’ State Became Smart on Crime

By Ronnie Ellis

Kentucky’s overhaul of its criminal justice system this spring is a textbook example of genuine bipartisanship.

Latinos and the Justice System

By Cara Tabachnick

The American Bar Association is exploring new ways to address how Hispanics are treated by courts, police and immigration authorities.