Montavilla Neighborhood Association

Southeast Community Court a Success!

Apr 08, 2000

A neighborhood court of justice that provides a swift, effective, and community-based way to sanction and support misdemeanor offenders has coming to Southeast Portland.

Circuit Court Judge Clifford Freeman has been presiding at the Southeast Community Court on the first and third Thursday of the month at the Brentwood-Darlington Community Center at 7211 SE 62nd Ave. The court hears misdemeanor cases committed in the East or Southeast Portland police precincts.

To be eligible for Community Court, defendants must accept responsibility and accountability for their wrongdoing by pleading guilty. They must also agree to perform community service in the community where their crime was committed and receive follow-up with social service agencies if directed to do so by the judge. "People involved with criminal activity are often dealing with other problems in their lives," notes Robyn Gregory, the project's coordinator. "The court offers social services to defendants who need help with a wide range of issues."

The county's first Community Court serving North and Northeast Portland opened in 1998, and Project planners hope to extend the Community Court system to every part of the city during 2000. Several neighborhood leaders have welcomed the program as a way to make offenders repay their communitites for crimes that harm the quality of life there and to give residents some say in the punishments. Most cases are heard within a month of the crime, so there is a clear link in the defendant's mind between a crime and its punishment.