Center for Court Innovation Improving Public Trust and Confidence Initiative

The FY 2015 Adjudication and Law Enforcement National Initiatives: Improving Responses to Criminal Justice Issues Competitive Grant Announcement focuses on national initiatives to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system, specifically by (1) providing training and technical assistance (TTA) to jurisdictions engaged in problem-solving justice initiatives; (2) training judges on advanced criminal justice topics; (3) improving public trust and confidence in the court system by promoting procedural justice; (4) providing TTA to jurisdictions engaged in capital case litigation; (5) providing TTA to prosecutors interested in diverting addicted offenders to substance abuse treatment in lieu of prison; (6) convening prosecutors to implement innovative policies and strategies; and (7) developing an executive training session for police leadership.

The goal of the Procedural Justice: Improving Public Trust and Confidence in the Court System Initiative is to assist criminal justice professionals increase perceptions of fairness and trust and confidence in the courts by translating research to practice. In 2011, BJA and its partners launched a national demonstration project that served to achieve procedural justice in an urban criminal court setting. A few of the resources developed include a menu of promising practices, an online learning system, education toolkit, and a 1-day training that translated the key principles of procedural justice into a training curriculum that was administered in urban criminal courtrooms (see www.courtinnovation.org/research/improving-courtroom-communication-nati…). The curriculum aimed at improving staff’s verbal and non-verbal communication practices. The demonstration project also evaluated the impact of those changed practices on defendant perceptions of fairness.

The goal of the Fund for the City of New York / Center for Court Innovation’s Improving Public Trust and Confidence Project is to help criminal justice professionals increase the public’s perceptions of fairness and trust in the criminal justice system. The goal of the project is to convert research strategies into tangible tools and technical assistance for practitioners by conducting a two (2) -site interview study, convene two (2) roundtables on procedural justice, and provide a variety of technical assistance to criminal courts. CA/NCF