Neighborhood Courts
Launched in 2012, Neighborhood Courts is an innovative model for keeping low-level justice involved individuals from entering the criminal justice system. The program is designed to resolve cases efficiently, create community-driven solutions to crime, reduce the congestion in our courts, and reduce recidivism.
Community Involvement & Participant Accountability
Non-violent misdemeanor cases that would otherwise be prosecuted are diverted pre-charging by the SFDA into ten Neighborhood Courts across the City (one for each police district), where trained neighborhood volunteers hear the matters, speak with the participants (e.g. justice involved individuals under traditional prosecution) about the harm caused by their actions, and issue “directives” designed to repair the harm and address risk factors.
Participation in Neighborhood Court is voluntary – but participants must be willing to take accountability for their actions. Once the participant completes their directives, the case is discharged. Cases that do not resolve in Neighborhood Court are returned to the SFDA for prosecution.
Innovation in Criminal Justice
Efficient: Cases can be heard and completed within a couple of weeks, often before the case would even appear in criminal court.
Community-Driven Solutions: The community that is affected by the crime is empowered to resolve the matter by addressing the harm that was caused by the act.
Justice Reinvestment: By taking low-level cases out of our overburdened courtrooms, we can reserve justice system resources for the cases that need traditional prosecution – and reinvest the resulting savings in prevention and services. A 2018 study found that Neighborhood Court costs up to 82% less than prosecution. Moreover, through our Neighborhood Justice Fund initiative, payments made by participants into a “community restitution” fund are redirected into grants to nonprofit organizations across the City.
Recidivism Reduction: By keeping low-level offenders out of the traditional system and, in the process, keeping convictions off their records, the Neighborhood Courts remove an obstacle to meaningful participation in the community. As individuals gain an understanding of the impacts of their actions, they may be less likely to re-offend. Principles of procedural justice, core to the operation of Neighborhood Courts, also help to promote successful completion of the program.
Who are the Neighborhood Adjudicators?
The Neighborhood Adjudicators are members of San Francisco’s diverse neighborhoods who volunteer to hear the cases. They have been trained in restorative justice and problem solving. They are NOT defense attorneys, prosecutors, or judges. They include residents, merchants, students, parents and retired community members.
During Neighborhood Courts sessions, the Neighborhood Adjudicators hear from the justice involved individual and the victim (in cases where there is a victim), and discuss the impact of the crime on the community.
Community Boards provides ongoing training and support to the Neighborhood Adjudicators, helping them to infuse restorative principles into the sessions and to craft individualized directives in each case.