| Domestic violence courts are one of the most recent innovations in case processing in the judiciary. Like other forms of "therapeutic justice," such as drug courts, domestic violence courts attempt to provide more appropriate and effective methods of dispute resolution and sentencing than have traditionally been available through the courts. Yet the methods of case processing vary widely between different courts that are designated as domestic violence courts. This paper summarizes the findings of a survey of 52 courts in California that have specialized calendars for processing domestic violence cases. The paper reviews which case types are identified as domestic violence, how these cases are processed, the services available to victims of domestic violence and batterers, and the resources available to the courts. |
Updated 05/20/2006