Criminal cases, communities, and courts
The subject matter of the criminal courts is criminal cases, not communities, and this has been one of the main practical and conceptual impediments to community justice in the courts.
These key actors in the court system perform their functions in interaction with one another, without much direct activity by nonprofessionals. Courts are traditionally insulated from outside forces, and emphasis is given to creating an environment in which professionally trained lawyers can use their skills in a formal, solemn setting to create outcomes that are seen by the public as just.
We will discuss whether this view of the courts, as a formal, somber institution of deliberation about criminal accusations, is wholly accurate. Accurate or not, the image of an independent, detached judiciary has a hallowed place in American jurisprudence, and it has operated as a counterforce to community justice thinking. Whereas the traditional view of the courts is that they are stately and detached, community justice is seen as informal and involved
