Reentry Courts in the Spotlight at Occasional Series

Today the John Jay College Prisoner Reentry Institute’s Occasional Series on Reentry featured a presentation on a groundbreaking study of the Harlem Reentry Court. Dr. Zachary Hamilton, Assistant Professor at Washington State University’s Criminal Justice Program, described his study of the Harlem Reentry Court. Dr. Hamilton, former Senior Researcher at the Center for Court Innovation, described the study’s findings to a packed audience that included the President of the College, Jeremy Travis. Discussants on the panel included the Hon. Leo Sorokin, Federal Magistrate for a reentry court program in Boston, and Braulio Rodriguez, former Harlem Reentry Court participant.

Reentry Court’s are a relatively new justice innovation that seek to smooth the transition from prison to community. Modeled in part on drug courts, participants are subject to greater supervision depending on their risk of re-offending and have access to an array of services to address their treatment, housing, employment and social engagement needs. Parole/probation and the judge work as part of a team to monitor compliance and support success. By some estimates there are between 30 and 60 reentry court projects in state and federal courts.
For more information and a copy of the power point visit the Prisoner Reentry Institute’s Occasional Series Page.

The next presentation in the series will take place on Friday, November 12: 9:00 - 10:30 am.
Topic: Parole Release Decisions: Impact of Victim and Non-victim Input on Parole-Eligible Inmates
Presenter(s): Joel M. Caplan, Assistant Professor, School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University

John Jay College: 899 Tenth Avenue, NYC (btwn. 58th and 59th Streets), Room 630.

RSVP to pri@jjay.cuny.edu