Photo of the Week

Director Greg Berman celebrated 25 years at the Center for Court Innovation with a candid talk led by Center alum Chris Watler, the New York State director of the Center for Employment Opportunities. The discussion ranged from his beginnings as an intern at Midtown Community Court to the changes he has seen growing the organization to a team of over 500.

Speaking at John Jay College on criminal justice reform, New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson called for the citywide expansion of our Project Reset, stating that, where intervention is needed, diversion, treatment, and rehabilitation, not incarceration, should be the default response for most criminal cases.

Leaders from government, academia, and the non-profit sector joined us at the New York Law School to discuss reductions in crime and incarceration in New York City over the last five years, and what the future of criminal justice and public safety could look like. This event was co-sponsored by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice. Photo credit: Vicente Gonzalez

The Queens Youth Justice Center held its Spirit of Queens festival as part of its inaugural Spirit Week. Throughout the week, the Jamaica, Queens, community participated in events that included a health and wellness fair, a day of games, and job fair. Photo credit: Michael Falco

Cherrye Davis, a teaching artist, leads a group through an exhibit at the New Museum as part of Project Reset Manhattan’s innovative response to an arrest. Rather than go to court, participants resolve their cases and avoid a criminal record by engaging in a gallery walk, arts activities, and immersive conversations that encourage self-reflection and community building. Photo credit: Michael Falco

With each different t-shirt color representing one of the Center’s programs, teams working on community development and crime prevention in all five boroughs and upstate New York came together at John Jay College to connect through the common themes of their work and to share potential solutions to the challenges they face. Photo credit: Kwesi Johnson

Judge Robert G.M. Keating was a driving force behind the creation of Midtown Community Court, and he left an indelible mark on criminal justice reform in New York City. In a ceremony at Midtown Community Court, guests and family gathered to honor his contributions and dedicate the courtroom there to his legacy. Pictured left to right: Greg Berman, Center for Court Innovation; Mary McCormick, Fund for the City of New York; Former New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman; New York State Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks; Mary Lou Keating; and Judy H. Kluger, Midtown's first presiding judge. Photo credit: Samiha A. Meah

Judge Statia Hendrix of Scottsdale Municipal Court in Arizona discusses how judges can address domestic violence in the community while maintaining their judicial independence. Hendrix is among the 14 fellows of the Judicial Engagement Network’s inaugural fellowship program. The 14 fellows recently attended a training at the Center for Court Innovation as part of the program’s efforts to strengthen judicial leadership and community engagement around domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Photo credit: Samiha A. Meah

Members of our Youth Justice Board work on a "rapid campaign" exercise. The exercise is designed to help Board members make substantive decisions while working collaboratively with adults. The Youth Justice Board is an after-school leadership program helping New York City teenagers study a public policy issue affecting young people. Previous cohorts have taken on issues such as the intersection between youth homelessness and the justice system, and police-youth relations. Photo credit: Samiha A. Meah

In Brownsville, residents of the Van Dyke Houses cool down after Zumba class and a day of nutrition workshops and cooking demonstrations at a “Food As Fuel” event, hosted by our staff on the Mayor's Action Plan (MAP) for Neighborhood Safety. 

"I wanted my story to inspire those young people who are so full of promise and potential...challenging the norms and changing the world with their brilliance... at Neighbors in Action I have been able to do more." Rahson Johnson of our Neighbors in Action was honored as a 2019 PASEsetter, an award from the Partnership for After School Education that honors five of the city’s most innovative and effective afterschool educators.

NY1’s Errol Louis moderates a panel at the Robin Hook Foundation about new ways of defining and maintaining safety that we co-sponsored with the Decarcerated podcast. Panelists are, from left, Amy Ellenbogen of Neighbors in Action, Erica Mateo of the Center for Court Innovation, Marlon Peterson of the Decarcerated podcast, and Mark Winston Griffith of the Brooklyn Movement Center.