Prosecutors, judges, and court personnel are looking for new approaches to adjudicating offenders that will not only clear cases and decrease dockets, but also lower recidivism. Throughout the country, courts are recognizing that crimes involving violent and nonviolent offenders require a special effort to ensure that these offenders are held accountable, but returned to the community with the services and supervision they need to stop offending.

Additionally, state and local prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges face the challenge of meeting increasing needs with limited resources. While local court personnel will decide how to meet those needs, BJA is committed to providing resources, tools, and support to help them test their ideas.

• Through the Capital Litigation Improvement Initiative, BJA will provide training to defense counsel, state and local prosecutors, and state trial judges to improve the quality of representation and the reliability of verdicts in state capital cases. This initiative involves capital case litigation training at the state and national level. Grantees will develop curricula; conduct training on a national level; and oversee curricula refinement and training delivery, implemented at the state level. Currently, BJA is in the planning stage of this initiative-supporting defense counsel, local prosecutors, and state trial judges as they develop national training curricula and pilot its delivery in designated states.
  
  
• Through Project Safe Neighborhoods, BJA will provide funding and support for prosecutors' offices to improve their abilities to prosecute gun crimes.
  
  
• We will fund and support Mental Health Courts that seek to find appropriate alternatives to incarceration and needed services for those offenders with mental illnesses or disabilities.
  
  
• Through the Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program, BJA will continue funding for drug courts formerly supported by OJP's Drug Courts Program Office.
  
  
• BJA partners with the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) to ensure the safety of American courts. With support from BJA, NCSC held a Court Security Summit to bring together policy leaders from all government sectors to develop an integrated approach to court security issues. At the summit, NCSC identified and assessed current security tools, resources, and continuing needs. NCSC then established working groups to develop strategic plan elements and implementation strategies. NCSC will make recommendations to BJA on next steps to ensure court security.
• BJA will assist local jurisdictions in finding creative sentencing strategies and practices and assess their effectiveness.
  
  
• BJA will support high-quality judicial training.
  
  
• BJA will support the highest quality DNA training and technical assistance for prosecutors.
  
  
• BJA will provide training and technical assistance to court administrators.

Related Publications/Information
BJA's Drug Market Intervention Initiative
Drug Market Intervention Initiative/High Point West End Initiative
BJA Mental Health Initiatives
BJA's Executive Session on State Courts in the 21st Century

Applying Problem-Solving Principles in Mainstream Courts: Lessons for State Courts
Defining Drug Courts: The Key Components
Drug Courts: An Effective Strategy for Communities Facing Methamphetamine
Emerging Judicial Strategies for the Mentally Ill in the Criminal Caseload: Mental Health Courts in Fort Lauderdale, Seattle, San Bernardino, and Anchorage
Mental Health Courts Program Fact Sheet
Strategies for Court Collaboration with Service Communities
Surveying Communities: A Resource for Community Justice Planners

Related Web Sites
American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI)
Center for Court Innovation
National Association of Attorneys General
National Association of Drug Court Professionals
National Center for State Courts
National District Attorneys Association
National Judicial College
Project Safe Neighborhoods

For more links, search our Related Web Sites database.

For statistical information, go to the Bureau of Justice Statistics web site.

Training
The President’s DNA Initiative on Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology offers training on the Principles of Forensic DNA for Officers of the Court. This is an online interactive resource tool to educate and assist prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges in forensic DNA cases. The course consists of 15 modules and covers:

• The biology of DNA, including statistics and population genetics.
• DNA laboratories, quality assurance in testing, and understanding a laboratory report.
• Forensic databases.
• Victim issues.
• The presentation of DNA evidence at trial.
• Post-conviction DNA cases.

The Project Safe Neighborhoods Training Catalog provides contact information for and brief descriptions of the services offered by Project Safe Neighborhoods training and technical assistance providers. Topics covered include firearms identification, safety, interdiction, trafficking, and tracing; innovative strategies employed by probation, parole, and related agencies; and how to link community engagement strategies with media outreach efforts, recruit and use community members as volunteers, and engage local youth.

BJA provides training and technical assistance support to the Community Prosecution grantees through the National Center for Community Prosecution and the Center for Court Innovation.

The National Judicial College provides educational and professional development opportunities to more than 58,000 judges worldwide. BJA-sponsored courses include children as adults in court, bench skills for judges, health care and aging, disabilities and co-occurring disorders, and the role of families in the justice system.

For detailed information on all BJA-sponsored training and technical assistance, go to BJA's Training and Technical Assistance page.