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Alex Calabrese, Judge, Red Hook Community Justice Center Created as a response to local public safety problems, the Red Hook Community Justice Center tries to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood and forge closer links between the court system and the community. Judge Alex Calabrese has presided over the court since its opening in 2000. read interview   Charles J. Hynes, District Attorney, Brooklyn, New York Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes has collaborated with the state court system to develop innovative judicial experiments like the Brooklyn Treatment Court, the Brooklyn Felony Domestic Violence Court, and the Brooklyn Mental Health Court. Here, Hynes discusses the origins of the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Red Hook, Brooklyn. read interview   David Fletcher, Judge, North Liverpool Community Justice Centre On Oct. 18, 2004, a five-person panel—which included, in an unprecedented move, two representatives of the community—selected Judge David Fletcher to preside over the North Liverpool Community Justice Centre, England’s effort to replicate the Red Hook Community Justice Center. Judge Fletcher spoke about how things had progressed. read interview   Douglas Van Dyk, Judge, Overland Park Community Court Judge Douglas Van Dyk is a Circuit Court Judge in Clackamas County, Oregon, and presides over the Overland Park Community Court, one of 10 sites to receive a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice under its Community-Based Problem-Solving Criminal Justice Initiative. Here he speaks about the court and how it works. read interview   Fred Bonner, Judge, Seattle Community Court Judge Bonner recently stepped down from the Seattle Community Court after presiding over it since its opening in March 2005. He has served on Seattle’s Municipal Court bench for nearly two decades. In February 2007 he spoke with Center for Court Innovation staff about the community court. read interview   Jorge Simón, former Judge, Hartford Community Court Opened in 1998, the Hartford Community Court hears misdemeanors and ordinance violations from not only the city of Hartford but also five of the suburban towns that fall within its jurisdiction. Judge Jorge Simón served as the presiding judge at the court from 2003 until 2006. read interview   Judge Ron Albers, San Francisco Community Justice Center Judge Ron Albers, the presiding judicial officer of the San Francisco Community Justice Center, discusses the two-year planning process and the court’s first months of operation. read interview   Judith S. Kaye, Former Chief Judge of the State of New York To get an experiment like a community court off the ground requires the freedom to examine chronic problems, the creativity to devise innovative solutions and the power to build new partnerships. Community courts require strong leadership and in New York, much of this leadership has come from Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye (Ret.). Here she talks about Midtown Community Court. read interview   Michael Kemper, Deputy Inspector, New York Police Department Deputy Inspector Michael Kemper is the commanding officer of the New York Police Department’s 76th Precinct, one of the three police precincts served by the Red Hook Community Justice Center and the one that incorporates the Red Hook neighborhood itself. The 76th precinct was recently named #1 in New York City in crime reduction over the past two years. In February 2008, Deputy Inspector Kemper spoke to Center staff about this impressive achievement. read interview   Phillip McDonald, Court Programs Administrator, Atlanta Community Court Phillip McDonald is the court programs administrator for the Atlanta Community Court. In May 2006 he spoke with Center staff about the neighborhood Restorative Boards being developed and expanded under the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community-Based Problem-Solving Criminal Justice Initiative. read interview   Raymond R. Norko, Judge, Hartford Community Court Judge Raymond R. Norko helped found the Hartford Community Court in 1998 and presided over its operations until early 2003. After five years working in other criminal courts around Connecticut, he returned to the Hartford Community Court at the end of 2008. In its first 10 years, the court handled 78,233 cases, chalked up 285,000 hours of community service, and made over 20,800 social service referrals. read interview   Richard Hopper, Judge, Hennepin County Community Court In June 1999 the Hennepin County Community Court began hearing cases from a high-crime area in South Minneapolis. Presiding judge Richard Hopper talks about the institutional obstacles planners had to overcome to launch the court. read interview   Richard M. Weinberg, Judge, Midtown Community Court, New York Richard M. Weinberg, Judge, Midtown Community Court, New York Judge Weinberg became the presiding judge of Midtown Community Court in January 2006. He is the fourth judge to preside over the court since its founding in 1993, when it was the first community court in the country. The court itself has garnered numerous accolades, including, most recently in 2007, the Golden Scroll Award from the Broadway Association, which has represented businesses in Times Square since 1911, in recognition of its enduring contributions to the neighborhood in the form of safer streets and improved quality of life. In June 2007, Judge Weinberg sat down to speak about his work at the court. read interview   Robyn Gregory, Project Coordinator, Community Court, Portland, Oregon Portland's first community court opened in 1998 and was followed by the opening of the Southeast Community Court in 2000. With the opening of the Westside Community Court in April 2001, all of Portland's half million citizens had access to a community court. In an interview from 2001, Robyn Gregory talks about about the various courts. read interview   Roxann Pais, Chief Community Prosecutor, Dallas City Attorney's Office Roxann Pais was appointed to be Dallas’s chief community prosecutor in 2001. In September 2005, she spoke about the city’s first community court, which opened in October of 2004. read interview   Scott C. Newman, former Marion County District Attorney, Indianapolis, Indiana Former Marion County District Attorney Scott C. Newman was elected Marion County Prosecutor in 1994, and was the driving force behind the Marion County Community Court that opened in April 2001. Here he talks about challenges in opening the court. read interview