Specialty Court Investigation

Specialty Court Investigation

Resources

· Textbook: Collective, C. J., Prior, S., & Jones, L. (2018). Investigating difference: human and cultural relations in criminal justice (3rd ed.). Pearson.

Background Information

Effective specialty courts work to identify appropriate candidates, then select those who want to make real positive changes in their lives.  Then they admit like-minded offenders, placing them together so that communication is optimized, and appropriate rehabilitation strategies can be utilized.

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.

2. Read Chapter 5 from our textbook.

3. Using the Internet, locate and carefully consider a specialty court for adult offenders in your area.  If there are no specialty courts near you, find one in a nearby city.  Some examples are Drug Court, Veterans’ Court, Mental Health Court, or Gang Offender Court.

4. Write a two-page (or 1,000 word) paper that addresses the following:

a. How does your chosen specialty court compare to the examples in our textbook?

b. How successful is the court at reducing recidivism?

c. Different specialty courts offer diverse groups many of the same services, but, since the 1960’s, Americans have been suspicious of “separate but equal” in education.  Can you justify it in this context?

d. Is it fair to those who are not admitted into specialty courts?