Sociologists, Students, and Communities Working for a More Equitable Society: A Community Court Monitoring Project

• In Event: Innovations in Sociological Practice and Public Sociology: Open Call Paper Session

Abstract

Local courts are among the most consequential institutions in the U.S. justice system, disproportionately affecting economically and resource-deprived communities traditionally pushed to the margins of society. For decades, researchers and interested members of the public have encountered obstacles to obtaining reliable, high-quality, and accessible court data, and local courts often lack adequate and publicly available data that could more quickly lead to justice interventions and accountability.

Community members in one county in Northwestern Virginia identified a gap in local legal-system data and challenges to accessing court data, prompting scholar-activists from three local universities to collaborate with a coalition of justice-based organizations and stakeholders to develop infrastructure for a Community-Court Connection (C3) project. College students from public and private institutions, alongside community volunteers, systematically observe local General District and Circuit Courts, enabling the public dissemination of collated information through an accompanying digital project and community-engaged events and communications. This cross-sector collaboration is a scalable, actionable, empirically grounded civic engagement and experiential learning initiative that centers and amplifies community concerns and knowledge.

The capacity for systematic public data collection through court observation programs remains one of the most effective mechanisms for local judicial accountability. However, court observation programs in rural areas or those with long-term university partners remain uncommon. This case study seeks to answer two primary questions: (1) How can scholar-activists effectively build infrastructure to enhance the transparency and accountability of local court practices? and (2) In what ways does immersion in courtroom data collection enhance students' critical analyses of structural injustice? Through a lens of Critical Participatory Action Research, this case study demonstrates how scholar-activists can prioritize local benefits from community-engaged research, collaborate across academic disciplines and institutions, and situate students in experiential learning conditions that prompt critical reflections and elevate civic engagement and democratic participation.

Authors

• Melissa Marini Švigelj, James Madison University

• Jennifer Holsinger, Eastern Mennonite University

• Lisa Necole Landram, Mary Baldwin University