Try Again, Fail Again, Fail Better: Lessons from Community Courts

Change doesn't come easy, particularly within an institution as large and complex as the criminal justice system. Greg Berman, Director of the Center for Court Innovation, offered lessons from several efforts to make reform stick in criminal justice settings. In particular, he focused on the development of community courts — experimental court projects that are attempting to reduce both crime and incarceration in dozens of cities across the U.S. and around the world. He also drew upon his recently-published book Trial & Error in Criminal Justice Reform: Learning from Failure (Urban Institute Press).