Council For Court Excellence

Programs: Criminal justice the criminal justice committee organized a group of community stakeholders to visit san antonio, texas to observe a mental health diversion program; advocated to improve the dc reentry process through a report on cce's findings and recommendations to improve the system; surveyed dc residents about their perceptions of public safety and community-police relations; met with congresswoman eleanor holmes norton to discuss localizing clemency powers for dc offenders; and convened dc stakeholders to discuss improvements to dc's expungement system. In addition, the criminal justice committee worked as part of a coalition to help the district apply for funds to begin researching the implementation of a mental health pre-arrest diversion program in the district, resulting in a 250,000 to the dc department of behavioral health and mpd; was awarded a new contract by the office of the dc auditor to conduct a study of how effectively the dc department of behavioral health interfaces with the dc criminal justice system; published beyond second chances: returning citizens' re-entry struggles and successes in the district of columbia, a report with findings and recommendations on how to improve the dc re-entry process; advocated to the federal bureau of prisons for the creation of a director of dc corrections position to provide oversight and accountability for the bop's handling of dc code offenders in its custody; submitted an amicus brief to a petition for cert to the supreme court of the united states for a case involving the appeal of a dc code offender from his parole determination; conducted research into the structure of clemency boards; and testified before the dc council in support of the fair criminal record sealing for housing act of 2016, which would help prevent unfair discrimination against people with criminal records applying for rental housing, and at a public oversight roundtable, "the state of mpd: crime, community policing, and selecting the next chief of police. "

public service the public service committee began developing an informational guide to guardianship and other adult protective processes in the district of columbia; continued its focus on notario fraud, advocating for a bill before the dc council that protects dc victims of notario fraud which passed unanimously on first vote, organizing stakeholders to develop a notario fraud bill that is anticipated to be introduced to the dc council this summer; continued to convene attorneys throughout the region who are involved with enforcing statutes prohibiting the unauthorized practice of law; updated the educational film that is the centerpiece of cce's longstanding school jury education program and wrapped up another successful school year with visits to 12 different classrooms throughout dc that utilized the expertise of judges, lawyers, and court personnel to teach this important civics lesson; and sponsored a well-attended, well- executed public forum in early june to hear from the judges who applied for the position of chief judge of the superior court of the district of columbia. Finally, the public service committee was awarded a 50,000 grant from the office of victims' services and justice grants to update the educational booklet, a victim's guide to the dc criminal justice system; and distributed thousands of copies of cce's various education guides throughout the dc community.

children in the courts the children in the courts committee implemented recommendations from cce's 2015 equity in school discipline report by participating in a working group analyzing how to improve dcps's school disciplinary process; is partnering with the state board of education's office of the student advocate to analyze how charter school discipline policies have improved since cce's original analysis; and testified before the dc council's committee on the judiciary in support of specific provisions of a juvenile justice bill.

court improvements and jury initiative the court improvements committee conducted a comprehensive review of dc's office of administrative hearings and published its findings and recommendations in late fall; is collaborating with the national center for state courts to research best practices related to courts providing the public with remote access to electronic court records; continued its work towards implementing the recommendations from cce's 2015 jury report; hosted cce's sixth off-the-record, by-invitation-only dialogue for judges, journalists, and lawyers; and testified at a dc council roundtable and public hearing on the expanding access to justice act of 2016, in favor of expanding access to counsel for indigent people in housing and other civil cases.