On Thursday, June 16, Newark City Council hosted the opening ceremony of Newark Community Solutions—an initiative to reform Newark’s Municipal Court. The council room was brimming with people, zealous about the newly adopted progressive changes to their justice system. The community court, which is the brainchild of 350 citizens from all five wards, who participated in 15 community dialogues, epitomizes the compassion and creativity needed to address protracted injustice, such as the manifest disparity in urban areas.

Community Solutions seeks to “increase sentencing options for non-violent offences, including drug possession, prostitution and shoplifting” as well as “reduce the court’s reliance on ineffective fines and expensive short-term jail sentences.” In other words, rather than quickly resorting to incarceration, the courts now aim to accommodate the differing needs of the Newark community. Through counseling groups, which include drug treatment, mental health, quality-of-life, and women’s services, there is now more of an emphasis on empathy and rehabilitation, rather than perpetual jail-time.

Additionally, in accordance with the growing momentum for significant change in the city, the Newark Youth Court was established in 2009. The court enables the city’s young people to take on leadership roles, and act as judge, jury and attorney. They participate in current real-life cases that deal with truancy, school disciplinary infractions, and vandalism, in order to cultivate responsibility in younger generations, and give them a voice in their community.

As a spectator at the opening ceremony, I was enormously impressed with the event. I found the speakers to be passionate and committed, and I left the City Council more inspired by the paramount and positive changes taking place in Newark. I particularly enjoyed speeches from Victoria Pratt, the Municipal Court Judge, Reverend John Rice, and Mayor Cory Booker.

Judge Pratt works in the most difficult court in the city, nicknamed the Deuce. The court is open seven days a week, and is known as one of the toughest places in Newark. Yet, Pratt spoke fondly of her job, and is proud to be a part of this transformative initiative to improve the justice system in the Municipal Court. Pratt applauds this new holistic approach of offering assistance, and helping people restore their dignity and self-respect.

Reverend Rice, from Horizons Community Development, grew up in Newark, and can relate to many of the individuals struggling with drug addiction. From the Weequahic district in Newark, Rice is from one of the more affluent areas of the city; he described vacations in Martha’s Vineyard with his family. Yet, like other addicts from the area, he found himself homeless nineteen times, and constantly in jail. Rice, a former heroin addict is now an influential community and religious figure, hoping to make an impact in others’ lives. “The solution is in the treatment,” Rice repeated, and asked the audience to echo. As a recovered user, the Reverend can empathize and more easily relate to individuals who are in need of help and rehabilitation.

Mayor Cory Booker was the final orator. I was incredibly impressed by his eloquence and fervor. The Mayor candidly expressed the “savage inequalities” in the United States, reflected through the “deep wounds from the past.” Booker described the current penal system, which is over sixty percent African American. ” Newark, along with the rest of the U.S., has been “caught up in...madness” and “demanding a system that creates a police state.” He alluded to the current change of sentiment and initiatives as the start of a “revolution.” Newark Community Solutions’ project is a monumental step, which I envisage having an indelible effect on the city.