Honoring Judicial Leadership in Compassionate Justice: The Hora/Jones Award

The Board of Trustees of the International Society for Therapeutic Jurisprudence (ISTJ) has enthusiastically approved the creation of the “Peggy Hora/Michael Jones Award for Distinguished Judicial Service,” to be presented to “judges who are making outstanding contributions to the administration of justice in a therapeutic jurisprudence mode.”

Currently Judge Hora (Ret.) is President and Co-Founder of the Justice Speakers’ Institute, LLC (JSI), an essential resource for speakers, trainers, consultants, and writers on local to international justice issues.

When asked about receiving the award, Judge Hora stated: “I could not be more thrilled. It’s such an honor to be recognized for one’s work by the international community. Therapeutic Jurisprudence has been an important part of my work and watching it being employed all over the world is so fulfilling. I’m humbled.”

Professor of Law David Wexler and one of the Fathers of Therapeutic Jurisprudence noted that: “Judge Peggy Hora was to me an obvious choice for the International Society for Therapeutic Jurisprudence to name an award after.  Judge Hora was an early drug treatment court judge, searching for ways that drug courts could better perform their function.  Her search led her to work in therapeutic jurisprudence looking at how the law and its application could be improved by the use of psychology, criminology and the like.”

Professor Wexler continued: “When Bruce and I fifteen years ago wrote our book Judging in a Therapeutic Key: Therapeutic Jurisprudence and the Courts, we dedicated the book to Judge Hora, Judge Schma, and then – Judge Randy Fritzler, for “starting us off on this journey.”  In essence, Peggy brought TJ to the judiciary — brought it from academia to practice —and has stuck with her dedicated leadership all these many years.”

When asked why an award named for Judge Hora, David Yamada, International Society of Therapeutic Jurisprudemce Board Chair, said, “We wanted to name an award that would honor judges who are doing outstanding work in a TJ-mode.”

Therapeutic Jurisprudence concentrates on the law’s impact on emotional life and psychological well-being. Its mission is to study the extent to which substantive rules, legal procedures, and the role of legal actors (lawyers and judges among others) produce therapeutic or anti-therapeutic consequences for individuals involved in the legal process. Once noted, the goal is to enhance therapeutic outcomes and reduce anti-therapeutic ones. It requires an ethic of care and an expansion of the usual roles of attorneys and judges to include the use of heightened interpersonal skills.

Judge Hora noted that TJ is useful in so many parts of the law. It can be employed by judges, lawyers, professors, the corrections community and in other professional situations. TJ had grown from an idea hatched by Prof. David B. Wexler in 1987 and was nurtured by him in collaboration with Prof. Bruce Winick. To see it now as a worldwide phenomenon is simply awe-inspiring.

During 2018, ISTJ will solicit nominations for the first Hora/Jones Award(s). This will join the Wexler/Winick Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contributions to the Therapeutic Jurisprudence (TJ) community in allowing it to formally recognize those who are advancing TJ in significant ways.

Judge Hora: A Global Leader on Justice Issues

Judge Hora (Ret.) was a Senior Judicial Fellow for the National Drug Court Institute and the Global Centre for Drug Treatment Courts, and a former dean of the B.E. Witkin Judicial College of California. She also is an Honorary President of the International Therapeutic Jurisprudence Society, dedicated to advancing legal and interdisciplinary scholarship.

Judge Hora remains a global leader in solution-focused courts. She was a visiting scholar at the University of Tasmania School of Law, and the 2009-2010 Thinker in Residence appointed by the Premier of South Australia to recommend policies for their justice system.

Judge Hora frequently speaks at conferences and provides hands-on training and consulting to jurisdictions worldwide including the United Kingdom, Israel, Chile, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Australia, and South Africa.

Appellate courts and nearly 200 journals and law reviews have cited her work. She recently authored a chapter on drug courts in the 5^th Edition of the ASAM Principles of Addiction Medicine, and regularly blogs and creates podcasts for JSI.

Born in Oakland and raised in Castro Valley, California, Judge Hora graduated from Chabot College, Hayward; California State University, East Bay in Hayward; and the University of San Francisco School of Law. She resides in Walnut Creek.

About the International Society for Therapeutic Jurisprudence

The International Society for Therapeutic Jurisprudence is a new, non-profit, learned association established to advance Therapeutic Jurisprudence, a school of legal philosophy and practice that examines the therapeutic and anti-therapeutic properties of laws and public policies, legal and dispute resolution systems, and legal institutions.

About the Justice Speakers Institute

The Justice Speakers Institute (JSI) is the essential resource for speakers, trainers, consultants, analysts, researchers and writers on justice issues – criminal and civil law; procedural justice and therapeutic jurisprudence; local to international jurisdictions. The founders and associates include more than a dozen award-winning, internationally recognized experts with decades of experience who have spoken, written, or consulted on over 150 subjects impacting the justice system. It is the mission of the Justice Speakers Institute to promote excellence in education, training and professional development on justice issues worldwide. To learn more go to: JusticeSpeakersInstitute.com.