The Political Dynamics of Justice Reform in The U.S.

In 2008, he began experimenting with alternative sentencing courts aimed at connecting
people with services such as housing, employment and substance abuse treatment, in
addition to handling their criminal cases. He started with drunk drivers. When he saw
recidivism drop, he added more courts.
There are special courts for people who violate the rules of their state supervision under
the new law and for people convicted of nonviolent felonies no longer requiring time in
state prison. At any given time, about 1,500 people are enrolled in the collaborative
courts, which last year accounted for about 7 percent of new case filings.
“It’s the ER
right there,”
Vlavianos said,
before going
onto the bench
on a recent
afternoon.
A woman in
orange jail
scrubs stood
up, clearly
agitated. She
said she had a
mental illness
and missed her
court dates
because she
was in and out of the hospital. The judge, glasses resting on the tip of his nose, looked
at her calmly.
“I need you to take a deep breath,” he said. “I need to have a plan before I release you.”
He asked a case worker to talk with her.
Vlavianos turned to a burly bald man with a mustache who had missed a meeting with a
probation officer. The man said he’d had a hard time getting around because he relied
on buses.
“I need your help,” the judge said. “I keep trying to keep you out of jail, and you keep
putting yourself back in.”
Herbert Finton Jackson Jr., 45, had been in and out of state prison and under
supervision for years when he landed in Vlavianos’ court about three years ago. The
judge noticed him struggling with his drug addiction and Jackson was placed in a
residential treatment center.
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