by Cristina Cabada Sidawi, Alachua County Labor Coalition
The ACLC’s Criminal Justice Committee is focused on reforming the Alachua County Court Services into an institution that helps keep people out of jails/prisons. Our committee published a white paper on Court Services with recommendations on how to make it a powerful tool in our criminal justice system, the full version can be found at our website www.laborcoalition.org.
The Alachua County Court Services is a broken system which for years has failed to live up to their goal of reducing incarceration and recidivism. This institution could be a powerful tool for progressive criminal justice reform in Alachua County, but, as it stands, has limited positive impact and often acts as a regressive ingredient in our broken criminal justice system. This is most evident by the shockingly high 78 percent of cases for whom this agency recommended monetary bonds.
Furthermore, poor administration and a seemingly purposeful neglect of best practices has left Alachua County Court Services unable to implement their core missions of supervised release, drug rehabilitation, and decarceration.
If the following reforms are implemented the Alachua County Court Services will become a powerful tool in much needed criminal justice reform:
Court Services should build relationships with community organizations for support and courtroom advocacy. Community advocacy can influence the court to make more appropriate decisions on release options and sentencing, ultimately reducing incarceration and unnecessary supervision of our community members.
Never act as advocates for monetary bail, the bail bond industry, or any other court order that makes a defendant’s pretrial freedom dependent on their wealth.
All staff should be fully trained to perform their duties effectively and properly. Staff who demonstrate behavior that goes against their standard operating procedures (SOPS) and training should be retrained accordingly.
Pretrial defendants should be released with the least restrictive conditions necessary to ensure they return to court when necessary and remain safe and respected.
Expedite jail releases of pretrial defendants by actively attending Bond Reduction Hearings and presenting release recommendations to defense attorneys for pretrial defendants.
Stop using the Florida and the Ohio Risk Assessment System and implement and train staff to use a new valid risk/needs assessment tool to determine supervision levels for individuals in all divisions in accordance with their needs.
Pretrial defendants should be released with the least restrictive conditions necessary to ensure they return to court when necessary and remain safe and respected.
Advocate wider utilization of diversionary courts and treatment services in order to decrease the jail population and provide community members with help and care as an alternative to incarceration.
The Work Release program must be recreated into a re-entry program based on the Broward County Model. This would help integrate individuals who have been released from jail back into their community.