Newark Community Solutions

Community Advisory Board 

Spring Meeting

Newark Community Solutions held its first Advisory Board meeting of the year at the Newark Municipal Court on Thursday, April 21. Community members, social service providers, educators, law enforcement, court staff, and legal partners attended the meeting. Municipal Court Director James Simpson welcomed the attendees and Chief Judge Victoria F. Pratt followed with opening remarks. Project Director Kelly Mulligan-Brown kicked off the meeting by providing newcomers with an overview of Newark Community Solutions and highlighted the importance of the program’s partnerships with the Newark Municipal Court and City of Newark. Newark Community Solutions staff then presented on their work with the Community Court, Newark Youth Court, and Newark United Against Violence. 

Stay tuned for details for the next meeting at the and of the summer!

Community Justice 2016 International Summit

The Center for Court Innovation, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance, hosted the Community Justice 2016 International Summit in Chicago from April 13 to April 15, 2016. 

The conference convened an international audience of practitioners and researchers, who explored some of today's most pressing issues and promising ideas in criminal justice reform. Topics included community engagement, jail reduction, risk/needs assessments, substance use and mental disorders, procedural justice and legitimacy, restorative justice, and young adult justice. 

Newark was well represented by Municipal Court Chief Judge Victoria Pratt who kicked off day two of the conference with an engaging presentation detailing the importance of procedural justice, the idea that how defendants feel about the justice system is tied more to their perception of fairness about the process and how they were treated rather than the outcome of their case.  Judge Pratt emphasized how this "simple idea" can revolutionize the way the judicial system relates to the public it serves by employing basic principles of dignity and respect. Later in the day, NCS Project Director Kelly Mulligan-Brown moderated a panel titled, Activating Public Space: Creative Approaches to Community Service.  The panel highlighted creative community service programming in Dallas, TX, Hartford, CT and Brownsville, NY.

For more information, including a full conference agenda and more event photos, please see the CCI event page:

http://www.courtinnovation.org/center-court-innovation-hosts-community-justice-2016