Last day for Community Court

HEAR YE! HEAR YE! Philadelphia Community Court is closing. Its last day is today.

After nearly a decade, the court will hear its last summary offenses and low-level misdemeanors on the second floor of 1401 Arch St. this afternoon.

Why? Lack of funding.

But court officials say this doesn't mean you can't be cited for public drunkenness, urination or loitering.

Police "will continue issuing appropriate citations," Municipal Court President Judge Marsha Neifield said last month.

Summary offenses, the majority of the cases in Community Court, will be handled in the Criminal Justice Center. Misdemeanors will be merged into Municipal Court's Accelerated Misdemeanor Program and heard in a police-district courtroom or the CJC.

Community Court, an idea sparked by Paul Levy, president and chief executive of the Center City District, opened Feb. 25, 2002, after much collaboration with the diverse parties in the criminal-justice system. It was inspired by Manhattan's Midtown Community Court.

It has since expanded beyond the police districts around Center City to include other districts, primarily in South Philly.

The gem of Community Court is its emphasis on community-service sentences or programs focused on drug- or alcohol-treatment rather than jail time.

Neifield said in an email yesterday that misdemeanor offenders will still be afforded services.

But because of fiscal restraints, "unfortunately, current resources do not provide funding for [summary] offenders." She wrote, however, that offers will be expanded to summary offenders to attend a diversion program.

Community Court was first funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

But after a multiyear grant expired, the First Judicial District picked up most of the tab, with the Center City District providing about $500,000 a year, and then in 2008, $328,900.

Levy said he hopes that the "collegial" environment in Community Court will be "reproduced" in its new settings.

Yesterday, things were quiet at 1401 Arch.

A morning list of 27 names was called, but only six defendants showed up. Charges against five of the people who showed up were dismissed by Municipal Judge Craig Washington because the commonwealth was not ready. After court, Washington said: "It was a great program, a much-needed program . . . I'll miss it."