New Community Court to Debut in February

By Carol Dimmick

A community court program, designed to dispense justice to minor offenders, debuts in the Richmond District Feb. 10.

Once a month, at the Richmond District YMCA, members of a new community court will hand out punishments for misdemeanor criminal offenses like trespassing, shoplifting and graffiti.

The goal of the new court, sponsored by the SF District Attorney's Office, is to relieve some of the pressure on the over-burdened criminal justice system by turning the prosecution for quality-of-life crimes over to members of the community.

A second goal of the program is to link the effect of the offender's criminal behavior to the community where the crime occurred. Community courts do this by forcing offenders to explain their behavior to residents and business owners who sit in judgment during the court process. Fines collected from offenders are then made available to nonprofit groups that serve the community.

The District Attorney's Office created the program because judges often hand out sentences which often leave the community out of the equation.

"When someone commits a crime, it hurts not just the victim, but the community itself," said Angela Louie, director of neighborhood services for SF District Attorney Kamala Harris.

The Richmond court is the 12th community court to be set in motion since then-District Attorney Terrence Hallinan started the program in 1998. During the past six years, community courts have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs for the prosecution of minor crimes.

According to Louie, community courts hear approximately 4,000 cases a year and save the City $1,200 per case.

She says that in about 60 percent of the cases, sentences are handed out. Offenders almost always agree to abide by the court's decision, she added, although they still have the option of returning to the criminal court system.

Harris has been a strong advocate for the new courts and since she took office several courts were revived, including a newly invigorated one in the Bayview District. In May of last year, a new community court opened in the Sunset District.

During its first year of operation, the majority of the cases heard by the new Sunset court involved public drunkenness, vandalism and possession of small amounts of marijuana.

According to Louie, a total of 78 cases were heard by the court and $7,000 in fines were collected. Non-profit community organizations in the Sunset can apply twice yearly for funds collected by the courts.

According to Louie, many of the cases were for San Francisco State University students arrested for the first time, on charges of public drunkenness and possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. She points out that one of the strengths of the new court system is that police officers are more likely to make arrests for quality-of-life crimes because they are not required to testify in court.

The new system also provides a benefit to offenders - an opportunity to have their criminal records expunged if they are crime-free for a year following sentencing.

The new courts have a number of tools at their disposal to discourage offenders from repeating their mistakes. As part of the sentencing process, community courts can require offenders to attend anger management classes, counseling sessions or substance abuse programs.

The debut of the Richmond community court will be held on Thursday, Feb. 10, at the Richmond District YMCA, from 10 a.m. to noon. For more information, contact Angela Louie at (415) 734-3018 or by e-mail at Angela.Louie@sfgov.org.