Court Watchers tracks domestic violence cases
Volunteers who want to assure a helpless victim does not endure even more pain in the court system spend countless hours listening in on cases involving child abuse or domestic violence.
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) in Kane County are an example of people who volunteer their time to be the one constant in a child’s journey through the court system if they become tangled in the web brought on by child abuse or custody battles.
The Fox Valley Court Watchers is another relatively new group of volunteers keeping an eye on court proceedings involving domestic violence cases.
Former St. Charles police officer Jim Kintz, who has brought the issue of domestic abuse to the forefront with presentations at service clubs, churches and other public forums, such as winning TriCity Family Services’ Barth Award, has also helped get the Fox Valley Court Watchers organized.
“We do not follow victims (through the entire length of a case) like CASA does,” Kintz explained. “We are not advocates (for any particular person in a case).”
The court watchers group came about last year, after Kintz had received input that an organization that monitored domestic abuse cases was needed. Once the court watchers had enough interested volunteers who were trained, Kintz said, the organization began attending domestic violence court proceedings last August.
Basically, the court watchers observe what is taking place in the courtroom to watch for troubling trends or instances they consider “amiss.”
“The court watcher files a report for what was observed in court that day, and the organization board collects the reports and analyzes them,” Kintz said. “We are looking for trends that are detrimental in the criminal justice system, and we will publish our report when we get it ready.”
Kintz said there are issues they can address with the offender, or the supervisor. The court watchers are not looking to become lobbyists at this time, but could possibly go that route in the future.
“Our reports will be shared with judges, prosecutors, the public defender, defense attorneys and the press,” Kintz said.
Anyone interested in becoming involved or learning more about the court watchers, which is a 501(c3) organization, can go to the foxvalleycourtwatch.org website.
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