"Seeing Justice Being Done"

Recently, Jack Straw, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice of Great Britain, visited the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Brooklyn -- one of the models for San Francisco's own Community Justice Center project. Following his experience, he wrote this op-ed in The Guardian.

Highlight:

"The courts aim to break the cycle of reoffending - and doing so is always the top priority of such courts - by tackling some of the underlying causes of crime such as drug and alcohol addiction, housing, education or debt problems. Sentences aim to include programmes to help solve these problems. . .

I want the public to see their courts as an accessible and vital part of their community. Courts that make a visible difference to the day-to-day lives of everyone who lives there, including offenders."