Problem Solving Courts: A Measure of Justice

Problem Solving Courts examines a relatively new approach to criminal justice in which judges, advised by law enforcement officers and mental health workers, meet with offenders on a weekly basis to talk about their issues in a socio-legal setting where therapeutic intervention is combined with a measure of punishment for program violations. Sociologist JoAnn Miller and judge Donald C. Johnson, creators of three successful problem solving courts themselves, address the compelling needs for alternatives to prisons, analyze problem solving courts in depth, and assess the impact problem solving courts can have on offenders and their communities.

JoAnn Miller is associate dean for the College of Liberal Arts and professor of sociology at Purdue University. She is the author of several books, most recently Family Abuse and Violence. She is president (2010) of the Society for the Study of Social Problems and has been the co-creator, with Donald C. Johnson, of problem solving courts.

Donald C. Johnson has implemented and run three problem solving courts in Indiana—one for offenders with mental illness and addictions problems, another for incarcerated felons, preparing to reenter society; and a program for sex offenders. He was three times elected as a superior court judge in Indiana, following a fifteen year legal practice. He was a special agent for the FBI, and served as deputy prosecutor.