Community Courts & Race: An Examination of Community Court Judges, Staff, and Racial Dynamics

• Author: Tyrell A. Connor
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/2153368720948109
• Published date: 01 April 2023
• Date: 01 April 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Community Courts & Race:

An Examination of

Community Court Judges,

Staff, and Racial Dynamics

Tyrell A. Connor

1

Abstract

Current research has found racial disparities in outcomes of problem-solving courts

throughout the country. However, most of the research has not explored the causes

of these racial disparities. This research qualitatively explores two prominent com-

munity courts in the northeast. Themes emerge about courtroom racial dynamics

through courtroom observations and semi-structured interviews. The findings indi-

cate that the racial makeup of the staff and judges play a role in maintaining a ther-

apeutic rapport with non-white participants. Suggestions on how problem-solving

courts can potentially improve racial dynamics are discussed.

Keywords

community courts, race, problem solving courts, reform

Introduction

Problem-solving courts (PSCs) have been growing in popularity over the past thirty

years ever since the inception of the nation’s first drug court in Miami-Dade, Florida,

in 1989 (Belenko, 1998). PSCs have become an attractive alternative to conventional

forms of justice due to their ability to reduce recidivism (Listwan et al., 2003), cost-

effectiveness (Berman & Rempel, 2011), community engagement (Henry & Kral-

stein, 2011), and target treatment methods (Hickert et al., 2009; Kaiser & Holtfreter,

2015). These factors have contributed to the creation of about 4,400 specialized

treatment courts in the country (National Institute of Justice, 2018).

1

Sociology Department, State University of New York New Paltz, NY, USA

Corresponding Author:

Tyrell A. Connor, Sociology Department, State University of New York New Paltz, NY, USA.

Email: connort@newpaltz.edu

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2023, Vol. 13(2) 185–206

Although PSCs have been rapidly growing over the past three decades, current

research finds racial outcome disparities within PSCs. Overall, people of color have

been succeeding and graduating at lower rates from PSCs than their white counter-

parts (Dannerbeck et al., 2006; Marlowe, 2013; Marlowe et al., 2016). Marlowe et al.

(2016) have found that black drug court participants have a graduation rate of 39%,

compared to around 70%for their white counterparts. Additionally, much of the

research to-date quantitively explores racial disparities within PSCs (Breitenbucher

et al., 2018; Dannerbeck et al., 2006; Ho et al., 2018; Marlowe et al., 2018; Mckean &

Warren-Gorden, 2011; Shannon et al., 2018). Therefore, current research on racial

disparities has found that a racial equity problem does exist within PSCs, but very few

have qualitatively explored what processes may influence these outcomes.

This study contributes to the growing body of research on racial inequalities in

PSCs by qualitatively examining the experiences and practices of PSC staff and

judges. The goal of this study is to explore these processes by observing how two

community courts navigate race in their courtroom. Greenwood Community Court, a

court with predominately white staff and a white male judge, will be compared to

Brickton Community Court, a court with predominately black staff and a black female

judge (the names of each court have been changed to protect the identity of respon-

dents). Each court serves a predominately black and Hispanic community. Findings

from this research will be a step forward in understanding how race plays a role in the

treatment process of PSCs.

Problem Solving Courts and Racial Outcomes

Racial disparities within conventional institutions of criminal justice have been widely

documented. Inequalities are present in policing, sentencing, and incarceration

(Spohn, 2000). Recent studies have begun to explore racial outcomes within inno-

vative forms of justice. Emerging research, predominately on drug courts, observe

racial outcomes in these specialized programs (Breitenbucher et al., 2018; Danner-

beck et al., 2006; Ho et al., 2018; Mckean & Warren-Gordon, 2011; Sechrest &

Shicor, 2001; Senjo & Leip, 2001a; Shannon et al., 2018; Wolf, 2008).

When testing for racial outcomes, many studies find significant statistical differ-

ence between the completion rates of whites and non-whites (Breitenbucher et al.,

2018; Chen & Nomura, 2015; Dannerbeck et al., 2006; Ho et al., 2018; Marlowe et al.,

2016; Mckean & Warren-Gordon, 2011; Senjo & Leip, 2001a; Sechrest & Shicor,

2001). Overall, black participants complete PSC programs at lower rates than white

participants. For example, Dannerbeck et al. (2006) observed data from 10 drug courts

in Missouri and found that 55%of whites graduated compared to 28%of blacks from

the programs. Furthermore, racial disparities are not limited to drug courts and can be

found in family treatment, DUI, and re-entry courts (Breitenbucher et al., 2018; Ho

et al., 2018).

Although most studies demonstrate significant racial differences in program

completion rates, others have found mixed results (Hickery et al., 2009; Roll et al.,

2005). However, all of these studies report that white participants graduate at much

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