On a rainy Friday afternoon in the Red Hook district of Brooklyn, New York, Judge Alex M. Calabrese presides over the only courtroom in a community justice center located a block from the Red Hook Houses, one of the largest housing projects in Brooklyn. He sits there surrounded by lawyers and clerks, defendants and court officers—all the ingredients of a cinematic court scene. However, the plots and climaxes that take place in this courtroom are not typical of any television program.