Philadelphia opens 'gun court'
Tuesday, January 11, 2005 Posted: 9:48 AM EST (1448 GMT)
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Court officials frustrated with their inability to dam the flood of illegal handguns on Philadelphia's streets are hoping they'll do better by targeting people who break gun laws.
The city on Monday opened its first courtroom dedicated solely to gun possession cases. The muscle of the so-called "gun court" will be probation officers who'll have a lighter-than-normal caseload (75 clients apiece, rather than the standard 236) so they can spend more time checking on offenders.
People on probation for gun crimes will be expected to meet with probation officials at least once a week, rather than the usual once a month. Some will be subjected to unannounced home visits by police and to random drug tests. Most will be required to attend anti-violence or anger management counseling sessions.
They'll also have their cases handled by a single judge who will also review how people are complying with the program.
The gun court won't handle cases involving violence, and people will be diverted to the program only if gun possession is the most serious crime they face. Many who appear are likely to be facing only a short jail sentence or probation.
"We are trying to prevent them from ever offending again," District Attorney Lynne Abraham said. "By focusing on intense tracking and tracing and supervision, we might dissuade this person from thinking it is OK to carry a gun."
The program has been modeled, in part, on "drug court" programs in which people facing drug possession charges are diverted into lengthy, court-supervised treatment programs rather than being sent to prison.
It's unclear how successfully the idea will translate to guns in Philadelphia, where shootings are reported several times a day and where there were 328 murders last year.
The first defendant to appear in the new court, Joseph Washington, was 48 and had never been arrested before. A police officer found a gun in the car Washington was driving after a traffic stop.
"It was a mistake," said Washington, who pleaded guilty. Judge Jeffrey Minehart sentenced him to three years of probation.
Other cities have experimented with courts specializing in gun crimes, with varying methods and goals.
Providence, Rhode Island, opened a gun court in 1994, and prosecutors said it has been very efficient. Before, the average gun case in Providence took nearly a year and a half to complete. Now it takes about six months.
When New York opened a gun court in Brooklyn in 2003, one of its goals was to encourage adherence to the state's sentencing rules for gun crimes. The result has been longer jail terms for offenders, and a sharp increase in the number of inmates serving at least a year in jail for illegally possessing a gun.
Source http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/01/11/guncourt.ap/index.html
Tuesday, January 11, 2005 Posted: 9:48 AM EST (1448 GMT)
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Court officials frustrated with their inability to dam the flood of illegal handguns on Philadelphia's streets are hoping they'll do better by targeting people who break gun laws.
The city on Monday opened its first courtroom dedicated solely to gun possession cases. The muscle of the so-called "gun court" will be probation officers who'll have a lighter-than-normal caseload (75 clients apiece, rather than the standard 236) so they can spend more time checking on offenders.
People on probation for gun crimes will be expected to meet with probation officials at least once a week, rather than the usual once a month. Some will be subjected to unannounced home visits by police and to random drug tests. Most will be required to attend anti-violence or anger management counseling sessions.
They'll also have their cases handled by a single judge who will also review how people are complying with the program.
The gun court won't handle cases involving violence, and people will be diverted to the program only if gun possession is the most serious crime they face. Many who appear are likely to be facing only a short jail sentence or probation.
"We are trying to prevent them from ever offending again," District Attorney Lynne Abraham said. "By focusing on intense tracking and tracing and supervision, we might dissuade this person from thinking it is OK to carry a gun."
The program has been modeled, in part, on "drug court" programs in which people facing drug possession charges are diverted into lengthy, court-supervised treatment programs rather than being sent to prison.
It's unclear how successfully the idea will translate to guns in Philadelphia, where shootings are reported several times a day and where there were 328 murders last year.
The first defendant to appear in the new court, Joseph Washington, was 48 and had never been arrested before. A police officer found a gun in the car Washington was driving after a traffic stop.
"It was a mistake," said Washington, who pleaded guilty. Judge Jeffrey Minehart sentenced him to three years of probation.
Other cities have experimented with courts specializing in gun crimes, with varying methods and goals.
Providence, Rhode Island, opened a gun court in 1994, and prosecutors said it has been very efficient. Before, the average gun case in Providence took nearly a year and a half to complete. Now it takes about six months.
When New York opened a gun court in Brooklyn in 2003, one of its goals was to encourage adherence to the state's sentencing rules for gun crimes. The result has been longer jail terms for offenders, and a sharp increase in the number of inmates serving at least a year in jail for illegally possessing a gun.
Source http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/01/11/guncourt.ap/index.html
