This webinar examines the legal and ethical issues that arise in the operation of Early Intervention Courts (EICs), particularly during the early intervention and pre-plea phases of participation. Participants will explore due process considerations, confidentiality requirements, information sharing limitations, and the importance of maintaining voluntary participation while protecting participant rights. JSI Co-President Judge Brian MacKenzie (Ret.) will addresses the ethical responsibilities of judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, treatment providers, and supervision agencies working within a collaborative court model. Designed for multidisciplinary justice professionals, this presentation provides practical guidance on balancing accountability, treatment engagement, public safety, and constitutional protections while implementing and operating an EIC responsibly and effectively.

Focus:

Pre-plea participation and due process considerations

Confidentiality and information sharing

Voluntariness and participant rights

Ethical obligations across disciplines

Managing risk while maintaining engagement

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how justice professionals gather information, manage workloads, communicate, and make decisions. JSI Co-President, Judge Brian MacKenzie (Ret.) will provide accountability court professionals with a practical understanding of AI tools currently being used across the justice system, the opportunities these tools may offer, and the safeguards necessary to ensure responsible implementation.

Learning Objectives:

Recognize the core principles and practical uses of artificial intelligence in accountability courts

Understand the impact of AI on the multidisciplinary accountability court team members.

Identify risk assessment tools, documentation support, supervision apps, GPS monitoring, and compliance systems as emerging AI-enabled technologies 

Identify examples of false AI outputs, validation duties, professional responsibility, and courtroom reliability concerns.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how justice professionals gather information, manage workloads, communicate, and make decisions. JSI Co-President, Judge Brian MacKenzie (Ret.) will provide accountability court professionals with a practical understanding of AI tools currently being used across the justice system, the opportunities these tools may offer, and the safeguards necessary to ensure responsible implementation.

Learning Objectives – Attendees of this session will:

Recognize the core principles and practical uses of artificial intelligence in accountability courts

Understand the impact of AI on the multidisciplinary accountability court team members.

Identify risk assessment tools, documentation support, supervision apps, GPS monitoring, and compliance systems as emerging AI-enabled technologies

Identify examples of false AI outputs, validation duties, professional responsibility, and courtroom reliability concerns.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how justice professionals gather information, manage workloads, communicate, and make decisions. JSI Co-President, Judge Brian MacKenzie (Ret.) will provide accountability court professionals with a practical understanding of AI tools currently being used across the justice system, the opportunities these tools may offer, and the safeguards necessary to ensure responsible implementation.

Learning Objectives:

Recognize the core principles and practical uses of artificial intelligence in accountability courts

Understand the impact of AI on the multidisciplinary accountability court team members.

Identify risk assessment tools, documentation support, supervision apps, GPS monitoring, and compliance systems as emerging AI-enabled technologies

Identify examples of false AI outputs, validation duties, professional responsibility, and courtroom reliability concerns.

Designed for lab technicians, toxicology professionals, collection personnel, and others who support accountability court operations, this session examines the critical role testing professionals play in participant monitoring, compliance, and informed judicial decision-making. JSI Consultant Salvador Valldeperas, MD will review a range of testing methods commonly used in accountability courts, including urine, oral fluid, breath, sweat, hair, and emerging remote testing technologies. The program will also address reliability, turnaround time, evidentiary considerations, and effective communication of scientific results to court teams and non-technical audiences.

Learning Objectives:

Recognize the importance of timely, accurate results and proper chain of custody procedures

Understand presumptive and confirmatory testing methods, along with courtroom testimony fundamentals

Identify best practices for explaining test results, limitations, and new testing technologies to judges, attorneys, and multidisciplinary teams 

A role-specific session for prosecutors examining their unique leadership function in treatment and accountability courts. JSI Associate Tammy Westcott will discuss how Prosecutors serve a critical role in protecting public safety while also supporting evidence-based practices that promote participant accountability, treatment engagement, and long-term recovery. This session explores how prosecutors can effectively operate within collaborative court models while maintaining ethical independence, exercising sound discretion, and responding appropriately to participant progress, relapse, and noncompliance. Practical strategies for decision-making, team participation, and advancing both justice and rehabilitation goals will be discussed.

Learning Objectives:

Understand ethical duties and the prosecutor’s role within collaborative court settings;

Balance public safety, treatment goals, and appropriate responses to relapse or noncompliance; and,

Recognize the use of incentives, sanctions, and prosecutorial discretion in promoting accountability and successful outcomes. 

Supervision professionals face increasing workloads, trauma exposure, staffing shortages, and emotional fatigue. JSI Vice President Community Supervision Chief Mack Jenkins (Ret.) will provide practical strategies to reduce burnout while maintaining professionalism and effectiveness.

Learning Objectives:

Recognize early warning signs of burnout and maintaining healthy professional boundaries

Understand practical stress management techniques, resilience building, and peer support strategies

Learn retention approaches that strengthen staff wellness, morale, and long-term agency stability