Problem Solving Courts A Measure of Justice

With overcrowded prisons and high reoffender rates, communities are increasingly concerned about not only punishing criminal offenders, but also rehabilitating them and addressing the social issues that contribute to crime. Problem Solving Courts explores a relatively new approach to criminal justice-one that can have a powerful impact on how offenders connect with their communities. Problem solving courts, born out of the 1980s drug court movements, are run by judges who, with law enforcement agents and social service providers, meet weekly with participants to assess progress. In this unique collaboration, JoAnn Miller and Judge Donald C. Johnson address the compelling need for alternatives to prisons, analyze problem solving courts in depth, and assess the impact that problem solving courts can have on ex-offenders and their communities. Book jacket.

JoAnn Miller is associate dean for the College of Liberal Arts and professor of sociology at Purdue University. She is past president of the Society for the Study of Social Problems and has been the cocreator, with Donald C. Johnson, of problem solving courts. Donald C. Johnson has implemented and run three problem solving courts in Indiana. He was elected three times as a superior court judge in Indiana, following a fifteen-year legal practice. He was a special agent for the FBI and served as deputy prosecutor.