Week 7 Memorandum

Week 7 Memorandum

TO:

FROM:

DATE:

RE: The Need for Autonomy of the Stocksdale Municipal Court from the County Court

Introduction

I have prepared this memo to support the need for an autonomous Municipal council in Stocksdale City that will operate apart from the County court. The ECR program, which is the main driving force for the autonomy of the municipal court, will have two main goals. These are relocating human and criminal justice services resources to create a more efficient and effective criminal justice system and increase public safety and citizen protection by minimizing recidivism (Hickert et al., 2011). The program’s implementation is based on other successful programs, such as that in Salt Lake City courts, which found out that most district courts in Utah failed to meet the standard ABA disposition timelines for criminal cases.

Mission

The mission of the new municipal court will be to prior impartial, efficient, and accessible forum for all case participants involving violations of municipal ordinances; adjudication of cases in line with the law, the community values, and the needs of the client; and promotion of public trust in the local government and justice system.

The new workgroup will be committed to creating a solution-oriented organization that demonstrates the core values of efficiency, respect, fairness, accessibility, accountability, and integrity.

SWOT Analysis

STRENGTHS The timely processing of cases, which is critical for all courtroom workgroup members, in addition to the general public, defendants, and crime victims[1] Individual attention can be given to cases and decisions made without undue disparity among similar cases and upon legally relevant factors[2]. Defendants get to benefit through faster dispositions as opposed to remaining in limbo. This will be especially beneficial to defendants who have been detained prior to going to trial.[3]

WEAKNESSES ECR program requires a more involved judge compared to the traditional system When judges focus on factors such as case backlogs, pending caseloads, and pace of litigation because of their additional involvement, the defendants’ rights may be overlooked [4]. There is a probability of extra-legal characteristics impacting outcomes and processing of cases.[5] There is a high likelihood of negative outcomes in criminal justice, including faster recidivism and higher recidivism.[6]

OPPORTUNITIES A short timeline can likely result in having fewer motions and pretrial hearings[7]. ECR program will result in a lesser possibility of jury trials[8]. Best practices can be developed through continuous procedural measures’  improvement in response to regular court users’ feedback.[9] Uniformity of decisions can be enhanced, hence contributing to greater confidence and predictability in the courts and potentially reducing appeal rates. [10]

THREATS Defense attorneys may be unwilling to relinquish control of processing time on cases as there is often a benefit and strategy to delay cases for the persons they represent[11] Because of the possibility of lesser chances of a jury trial, the defendant is denied their right in contravention to the adversarial process.[12] When a defendant fails to plead guilty, the case is re-tracked to the traditional system, wasting time and resources.[13] Because the cases deal with less serious offenses, irrelevant factors can be introduced, such as age, gender, and race, which influence the final decision and sentence outcomes.[14] Focal concerns theory states that “practical constraints and consequences” can impact the final decision, as would the culpability and blameworthiness of the defendant, as well as the need to offer the community protection[15]. The need to dispose of a case to ensure court resources and time are directed toward serious cases can influence the final decision by the prosecutor.[16] The municipality can take advantage of increasing revenue by creating ordinances with higher fines or new offenses, ensuring the police enforce the laws, and then proceed to charge violators.[17]

New Municipal Court Structure

The entire court structure will resemble Ohio’s, as shown in the diagram. The new municipal court structure will comprise three primary workgroups: case management, adjudication, and administration. The ultimate goal of the workgroup is to ensure that the disposition of cases is done on time and is consistent with their case management and preparation needs, as well as improved judicial system resource utilization by tailoring the application of each case to the dispositional requirements[18].

For these goals to be achieved, the court will need to begin creating tracks for the different case types, which will be dependent on the perceived time for processing cases[19]. Specifically, the tracks will be determined by the diverse requirements of the procedures and the decision-making time frames necessary for the disposition of cases.

Next, the court will implement a screening process for cases that will occur immediately after a case is filed to determine the appropriate track to follow. Upon selecting a track for a case, continuous monitoring should be done to ensure that it meets the deadlines and requirements per the specified track expectations.

The courtroom workgroup will have the experience and expertise to assess the necessary attention and time for the cases. Hence, they will cooperate and coordinate with all court system agencies. This is because it is possible for courtroom actors, including defense lawyers, prosecutors, juries, and judges, to view factors related to the complexity of a case in diverse ways[20]. Therefore, the workgroup will be all-inclusive to define such criteria or be at risk of being biased when tracking cases and alienating members of the courtroom workgroup.

Lastly, the workgroup will utilize other successful case management methods, including effective communication, strong judicial leadership, continuous or early case-control, and strict timelines for pretrial procedures[21]. For example, cases that are assessed and found not to require much court intervention or time can be selected for expedited tracks that would include strict timelines for filing charges, initial court appearance, discovery of evidence, plea negotiations, and guilty pleas, as well as the court’s continuous monitoring to ensure the timelines are met.

[1] Bureau of Justice Assistance. (1997). Trial Court Performance Standards. Washington, DC: Author.

[2] Taxman, F. S. & Elis, L. (1999). Expediting court dispositions: Quick results, uncertain outcomes. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 36(1), 30-55.

[3] Bureau of Justice Assistance

[4] Carroll, D.J., Spangenberg, R.L., Alwis, R., & Bailey, J. (2000). Indigent Defense Services in the State of Nevada: Findings and Recommendations. West Newton, MA: The Spangenberg Group

[5] ibid

[6] Butters, R., Prince, K., Walker, A., Worwood, E. B., & Sarver, C. M. (2018). Does reducing case processing time reduce recidivism? A study of the early case resolution court. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 0887403418789465.

[7] Hickert, A.O., Worwood, E.B., Sarver, C.M., & Butters, R.P. (2011). Evaluation of Early Case Resolution (ECR): Year 1 Report. Salt Lake City, UT: Utah Criminal Justice Center, The University of Utah.

[8].Caroll et al., (2000)

[9] ibid

[10] ibid

[11] Hickert et al., (2011)

[12] ibid

[13] ibid

[14] ibid

[15] Steffensmeier, D., Ulmer, J., & Kramer, J. (1998). The Interaction of Race, Gender, and Age in Criminal Sentencing: The Punishment of Being Young, Black, and Male. Criminology, 36, 763.

[16] Spohn, C., Beichner, D., & Davis-Frenzel, E. (2001). Prosecutorial Justifications for Sexual Assault Case Rejection: Guarding the Gateway to Justice. Social Problems, 48, 206-235.

[17] ibid

[18] Cooper, C., Solomon, M. & Bakke, H. (1993). Differentiated Case Management: Implementation Manual. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice.

[19] Cooper et al., (1993)

[20] Heis, M. (2004). Criminal case complexity: An empirical perspective. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 1(2), 331-369.

[21] Steelman, D. C. (2000). Caseflow Management: The Heart of Court Management in the New Millennium. Williamsburg, VA: National Center for State Courts.

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Week 7 Memorandum

Week 7 – Assignment: Create a Diagram and SWOT analysis of a proposed reorganization of the District and Municipal Court

Instructions

Local municipal jurisdictions are reconsidering their decision to operate their own court system, rather than depend upon county district and superior courts. Called a cash-grab by some, local jurisdictions believed initially that they could recover much of the cost of operating the system through fines and other assessments rather than contract with the county and pay negotiated fees. For some municipal jurisdictions, the separation has been profitable. In other cases, not so much.

While the separation might be about money, some municipal jurisdictions disagree philosophically with their county counterpart over traditional court structures. For example, some municipalities prefer to offer Early Case Resolution (ECR) to eligible first-time non-violent felony offenders. This allows offenders to enroll in treatment programs rather than face trial. Where the offender bears most of the cost, it is very inexpensive for the municipality. Many county courts do not offer this option, so it motivates municipalities to break from them. There are unintended consequences, however. Usually, the local private attorney community thrives economically defending Class 3 non-violent offenders. With ECR, Class 3 non-violent offenders now require no representation. Local attorneys must now fight for business defending less frequent cases of violence.

Assignment Instructions:

For this assignment, you are a policy advisor for a city council person. You have been asked to complete a SWOT analysis of the idea of not renewing the contract with the county over court services and creating a new municipal court. While you should assume that the creation of such a court is legal, there are indeed implications to creating local ordinances. You should consider these while you construct your SWOT analysis. While this plan is still in its infancy, the council person wants you to present a diagram of the new organizational municipal court structure and a memorandum outlining how this process will be organized and how it might operate to deliver a more refined, less expensive outcome. You may use a court structure from your immediate area or jurisdiction. Or, you may search the endless municipal court organizational charts found on the Internet. You may also use Microsoft Office SmartArt to create the diagram or other free trial software packages such as SmartDraw or RFFlow. The SWOT analysis may be single-spaced in office memorandum format. You should, however, cite your sources when supporting examples, costs, and benefits.

Be sure to adhere to Northcentral University’s Academic Integrity Policy. View the Northcentral Academic Integrity Tutorial to refresh your knowledge of how to achieve academic integrity.

Length: Diagram with a 2-page SWOT analysis

References: Include a minimum of five scholarly resources.