NCJ Number
79168
Journal
Trooper Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1980) Pages: 97,99,101,103
Date Published
1980
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Ways of resolving conflicts without resorting to expensive and complicated court proceedings are discussed, including Neighborhood Justice Centers (NJC), ombudsmen, newspaper action lines, and small claims courts.
Abstract
Heavy reliance on litigation in the United States has resulted in court delays, high legal costs, and inefficient case processing as reflected in high dismissal rates. Moreover, the court's adversary proceeding allows little room for compromise and does not always serve justice. As an alternative, several communities have established NJC's which use volunteers from the community as arbitrators and mediators to settle civil and criminal disputes at a substantially lower cost than normal judicial processes. Most are in urban areas and have been sponsored by private organizations as well as by the police, the courts, and the prosecutor's office. Case examples demonstrate how tenant complaints, a conflict between neighbors over a shared driveway, and gang crime were successfully handled by NJC's in Atlanta, Kansas City, and Los Angeles. An NJC can hear a case within 7 to 15 days after referral at a time convenient for both parties and provides translators when the parties are not fluent in English. A survey of three NJC's in major cities showed that 78 percent of the complaints and 82 percent of the respondents were satisfied with the agreement reached. The ombudsman, an independent, highly placed official whose job it is to deal with citizen complaints, has been used effectively by several States and by institutions such as schools, hospitals, and prisons. An offshoot of the ombudsman idea is the newspaper column often called an action line which is reserved for consumer complaints. Small claims courts can supply quick and inexpensive justice, but studies have indicated that they are underused due to lack of publicity and the reluctance of people to use an agency that is part of the system they distrust. The effectiveness of small claims court can be enhanced by the use of outstanding arbitrators and judges who volunteer their services and by holding sessions in the evenings. Finally, the United States could follow the example of several European countries and use more lay judges.