A Social Worker in a Robe Gets Criticism for Helping Drug Addicts, Veterans, the Homeless
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One judge faces criticism from colleagues and professional stigma for doing what he thinks is right.
SANTA ANA, Calif.—The role of the judge in a courtroom is to oversee an intentionally adversarial process between two sides. But Joe Perez has never seen his role that way. At the Orange County Community Court, where he presides, everyone works toward a single goal: setting clients on a path to recovery from whatever earned them a spot on the docket. In the week I recently spent at the OCCC, many clients seemed to benefit from the court’s approach. But so did the team serving them. It seemed as though most staffers saw their work as satisfying and meaningful because of its purpose, starting with the judge. As I learned more about how the court works, I wanted to understand why the talented staff—many of whom have worked in criminal justice for over a decade—chose this setting, this court, and this population.
“What you see in this court is a paradigm shift in how we do business in the judicial system,” Perez said. As one of about 50 community courts in the country, the OCCC works within the broader justice system to provide a rehabilitative alternative for low-level, repeat offenders who may have compounding issues—like addiction, homelessness, or trauma—that lead them to repeated encounters with authorities.
“Let me tell you, there is criticism too,” Perez told me while we sat in his office one afternoon in between court sessions. “There are some people within the judiciary that don’t think what we’re doing is judicial in nature. I’ve been called a social worker in a robe.”
By design, a community court offers a range of social services in addition to creating a second-chance path for people who find themselves cycling in and out of jail. At the OCCC, several specialty courts focus on drug addicts, veterans, the homeless, and those who suffer from severe mental-health issues, among others. Instead of sentencing people and delivering them to a prison, the team of attorneys, probation officers, social workers, medical staff, and others work to craft individualized treatment plans that address the core issues that cause people to keep committing crimes.