RESOURCES:
MANUALS, GUIDEBOOKS & TIPSHEETS
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WATCH manuals provide concise information on starting and operating a successful court monitoring program. Both include CDs with ready-to-use
forms, handouts and PowerPoint presentations. Click on a manual for a full description.
GUIDEBOOKS
Free downloadable guidebooks are available at WATCH's website:
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| Court WATCH Connection
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WATCH
bringing a public eye to justice
608 2nd Ave S. #465
Mpls, MN 55402
(612) 341-2747
watch@watchmn.org
www.watchmn.org
ABOUT WATCHView a short video about WATCH's history and mission. Hear what staff, volunteers and court personnel say about our work. |
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TRAINING:
MANAGING COURT MONITOR VOLUNTEERS WEBINAR
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Date and time: Thursday, September 24th at 11:30am (CST)
Topics:
- The role of court monitor volunteers
- Strategies for recruiting and retaining volunteers
- Designing and implementing your volunteer training
- Ongoing volunteer management
Participants
will also receive sample applications, job descriptions and screening
materials as well as a $10 discount on the purchase of WATCH's new Managing Court Monitor Volunteers manual. The webinar is one-hour long. Registration closes at 10am CST the day of the webinar.
Cost:
$35 for NACMP members
$50 for non-members
Contact: Anna Light or (612) 341-2747 x7.
*9:30 a.m. Pacific, 10:30 a.m. Mountain, 12:30 p.m. Eastern
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UPDATES:
MONITORING ACROSS THE COUNTRY
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New York
Congratulations to Voices of Women Organizing Project in New York, NY for drawing national attention to the plight of battered women in the New York family court system. Their report Justice Denied in the NYC Family Courts was highlighted in the August/September issue of the Domestic Violence Report. Read the full report...
Georgia & Oklahoma
Welcome to new National Association of Court Monitoring Programs' members Better Courts for Kids in Marrietta, GA and Community Court Watch of Northwest Oklahoma in Enid, OK. Better Courts for Kids is advocating for
children inside
the courtroom as well as working to improve the foster care
system. Community Court Watch starts monitoring order for protection hearings this month to provide feedback to the system and advocate for improvement. Best of luck to both of these exciting new programs!
Michigan(Women's
eNews)--After crisscrossing the nation and speaking to divorced women
for
nearly a decade, Renee Beeker realized family courts were creating a
spider web of pained parents and irregular rulings rarely revealed
outside courthouse walls. A big-picture view provided by a watchful eye
was in order. So in 2004 Beeker, a mother of six, founded the National Family Court Watch Project in Milford, MI which she continues to direct. Read more...
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What are you up to? Let us know about your project or program so that we can highlight your work in our next newsletter. Contact us now.
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RESOURCES:
GUIDE TO WRITING CASE SUMMARIES
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WATCH'S latest resource, available free at our website, is an in-depth guidebook on researching and writing case summaries. Case summaries are one to two paragraph descriptions of
cases that WATCH publishes in its newsletter. Case summaries are used to give
readers a glimpse into the kinds of cases we monitor and the types of outcomes
we see. Case summaries are also included in grant applications, end-of-year
and other reports, included in training sessions, and
other community education activities.
The following case summary, published in the Summer 2005 issue of
WATCH's newsletter the WATCH Post, is typical of the case summaries we
publish:
David Eichholz,
49,was charged with third and fourth degree
criminal sexual conduct for raping his developmentally disabled 30-year-old
daughter when she visited for Christmas. Eichholz, who had no criminal history
in Hennepin County, was later charged with fourth degree criminal sexual
conduct against a different developmentally disabled daughter. He was found
guilty of both charges of criminal sexual conduct with the first daughter in
December and sentenced in January to 48 months in prison. A pre-trial hearing
in the second case is set for March. Lajune Lange was the judge, Marlene
Senechal was the prosecutor, and Tina Hudak-Appleby was the defense attorney.
These short but powerful summaries provide
interesting insight into the adjudication of cases, particularly for those who
have no experience with courtroom proceedings. Learn more from WATCH's Guide to Writing Case Summaries... |
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SUMMER 2009 WATCH POST:
MINNESOTA NICE--NOT!
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In early June, the Star Tribune reported on the investigation and arrest of some members of the Minnesota Nice Guys,
a "group of at least 30 well-to-do men who share a common love of expensive prostitutes." The group was made up
of businessmen, lawyers, accountants, and mortgage bankers; they called themselves "nice guys" because they
have "clean backgrounds and regarded themselves as trustworthy to not mistreat the women." One investigator described this group as unique, in part because of its sophisticated communications network maintained by its founder, former Assistant Hennepin County Attorney John St. Marie.
The public may also think this group unique because of the men's high socioeconomic status and lack of
criminal histories. But its members are far from unique. Most johns out prowling the urban streets looking for prostitutes, going on sex tours to Asian countries, or taking part in sex acts at bachelor parties look just like them. They are middle- to upper-class men. Many have no criminal records and find women through Craig's List or other internet sites. In fact, it is precisely the average "nice guy" that makes up the
demand side of the sex industry. Some may have more social power and nicer suits than others, but their commonality
is the willingness to buy, sell, and traffic women for their own use. Read the entire article and the rest of WATCH's latest newsletter...
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