Midtown Community Court

{{Short description|New York City court for quality-of-life offenses}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

File:W 54th St 8th Av 08 - Midtown Community Court.jpg

The Midtown Community Court is a part of the New York City Criminal Court{{cite web|title=New York City Criminal Court - Special Projects|access-date=23 November 2014|url=http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/criminal/specialprojects.shtml|quote=The Midtown Community Court, part of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, arraigns defendants who are arrested in Times Square, Clinton and Chelsea areas of the city and charged with any non-felony offense.}}{{cite book|title=Criminal Court of the City of New York: Annual Report 2013|page=53|date=July 2014|publisher=Office of the Chief Clerk of New York City Criminal Court|url=http://www.nycourts.gov/COURTS/nyc/criminal/2013%20Annual%20Report%20FINAL%2072214.pdf}} that focuses on quality-of-life offenses, such as prostitution, shoplifting, farebeating and vandalism, with a view toward rehabilitation instead of punishment. For example, judges may order offenders to perform community service and refer them to such social services as drug treatment, mental health counseling, and job training.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}

It was established in 1993 in the Times Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City,{{cite book|title=Judith S. Kaye in Her Own Words: Reflections on Life and the Law, with Selected Judicial Opinions and Articles|year=2019|pages=64–66,451|first=Judith|last=Kaye|author-link=Judith Kaye|publisher=State University of New York Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NTCbDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA64|lccn=2018033290|isbn=9781438474816}} and is now located on West 54th Street in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan.The Midtown Community Court's address is 314 W. 54th St., New York, NY 10019 The Midtown Community Court was established as a collaboration between the New York State Unified Court System{{cite web |url=http://www.courts.state.ny.us/ |title=Home |website=courts.state.ny.us}} and the Center for Court Innovation. The court relies on partnerships with local residents, businesses and social service agencies to organize community restitution projects and provide on-site social services, including drug treatment, mental health counseling, and job training.{{cite web|url=http://www.courtinnovation.org/_uploads/documents/How%20it%20works.pdf |title=How It Works: A Summary of Case Flow and Interventions at the Midtown Community Court|publisher=Center for Court Innovation}} Unlike most conventional courts, the Midtown Court combines punishment and help, requiring low-level offenders to pay back the neighborhood through community service while mandating them to receive social services to address problems that often underlie criminal behavior.{{cite web|url=http://www.courtinnovation.org/_uploads/documents/Communitycourtprinciples.pdf|title=Community Court Principles: A Guide for Planners|publisher=Center for Court Innovation}}

The court was the subject of an independent evaluation by the National Center for State Courts.{{cite web|url=http://www.ncsconline.org/ |title=The National Center for State Courts - Home Page |access-date=2006-06-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625094626/http://www.ncsconline.org/ |archive-date=2006-06-25 }} According to the National Center, the court's compliance rate of 75 percent for community service was the highest in the city.The National Center survey was published as a book. See {{cite book|title=Dispensing Justice Locally: The Implementation and Effects of the Midtown Community Court|year=2000|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9057026147}} Offenders performing community service contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of labor to the community each year. In conjunction with aggressive law enforcement and economic development efforts, the court has affected neighborhood crime: prostitution arrests dropped 56 percent and arrests for illegal vending were down 24 percent.{{Cite book |url=https://www.innovatingjustice.org/sites/default/files/dispensing%20justice%20locallyI.pdf |title=Dispensing Justice Locally: The Implementation and Effects of the Midtown Community Court |date=1997 |publisher=Center for Court Innovation |pages=7}}

The court has been replicated both in the United States,{{cite web|url=https://www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/documents/What%20is%20a%20Community%20Court.pdf|title=What is a Community Court? How the Model is Being Adapted Across the United States|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance}} in cities including Austin, Philadelphia and Portland, Oregon, and abroad,{{cite web|url=https://www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/documents/CJ-International.pdf|title=Community Justice Around the Globe: An International Overview |publisher=Crime & Justice International}} in South Africa, Great Britain,For more information about community courts in Great Britain, see [http://www.communityjustice.gov.uk/index.htm the British government's official web site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080807120725/http://www.communityjustice.gov.uk/index.htm |date=2008-08-07 }} Canada,For more information about the Vancouver Community Justice Centre, see [http://www.criminaljusticereform.gov.bc.ca/en/justice_reform_projects/community_court/index.html here] and Australia.For more information about the Collingwood Community Justice Centre in Melbourne, Australia, see [http://www.justice.vic.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/DOJ+Internet/Home/The+Justice+System/Neighbourhood+Justice/ here]