This webinar will critically examine the use of bench warrants for failure-to-appear in court, highlighting their limitations and harmful consequences. Panelists will explore policy and practice options available that rely on a few resources to implement. Through interactive discussion and real-world examples, attendees will gain actionable insights to challenge inequitable practices and drive meaningful reform.
Were you not able to join this workshop at the Chicago network meeting because you couldn’t find a seat? This session was PACKED at the network meeting and attendees raved about how great the panel discussion was. Now is your opportunity to hear the conversation and learn about concrete ways of improving appearance rates. This virtual event will delve into the limitations and consequences of bench warrants for court no-shows. Experts will share information about policy and practice alternatives that are resource-efficient and actionable.
Office of the Public Defender
City & County of San Francisco, CA
Mano Raju is the elected Public Defender of San Francisco, California. He completed his undergraduate work at Columbia, earned a Master’s degree in South Asian Studies from U.C. Berkeley, and acquired his law degree at U.C. Berkeley Law. After serving as a Deputy Public Defender in Contra Costa County, he joined the San Francisco office as a line deputy. Due to his successful practice as a line attorney, he was promoted by Jeff Adachi to become the Training Director and then the Felony Manager. Known as a fierce litigator, Mano has lectured on how to provide effective and skillful defense in homicide and gang cases and race-conscious representation. He believes in holistic representation, getting to know his clients, their families, and communities, as well as connecting people to reentry opportunities. During his tenure in the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, Mano has launched innovative programs, such as the “Be the Jury'' Program, Young Defender Program, End the Cycle Initiative, Freedom Project, College Pathway Project, and Integrity Unit. As the only elected Public Defender in California, Mano continues to grow the office’s capacity to provide the highest level representation and zealous advocacy toward more equity and humanity in the criminal legal system.
President
The Justice Management Institute (JMI)
Elaine Borakove is the President of The Justice Management (JMI), directing and managing JMI’s research, training, and technical assistance projects aimed at producing systemic change. Her work focuses on helping justice systems design and implement research-based strategies for improving the administration of justice, implementing fair and effective case management processes, developing performance measures and system assessments, and conducting organizational workload assessments. Elaine leads JMI’s work under the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety + Justice Challenge. Her work in this area has been focused on case processing improvements, jail population reduction, and reduced racial and ethnic disparity in the justice system. Elaine also serves as the project director and principal investigator on JMI’s research projects which include an examination of prosecutor decisions to not pursue certain types of offense and the impact on public safety and racial/ethnic disparities, an evaluation of a community court on recidivism and racial equity, research on drivers of delay in case processing, and studies of justice system agencies’ workload.
Prior to joining JMI, she served as the Director of the Office of Research & Evaluation at the National District Attorneys Association’s American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI) for 10 years. She has authored numerous publications and reports on criminal and juvenile justice issues justice system for both federal, state, local, and foundation clients, and is co-editor of The Changing Role of the American Prosecutor (SUNY Albany Press, 2008). Elaine has authored numerous book chapters on prosecution and related topics including one published in Visions for Change: Criminal Justice for the 21st Century (Prentice Hall, 2009). Her work has also been published in a number of journals include Victims and Offenders, International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, Forensic Journal of Nursing, and the American Journal of Criminal Justice.
State Attorney
Lake County, IL
Eric Rinehart was elected Lake County State’s Attorney in 2020, and re-elected in 2024.
Eric is extremely proud to have run two successful campaigns that focused on intentional conversations about what drives crime and what drives injustice within our legal system. Eric believes that the root causes of crime must be addressed at a societal and community level, but that a data-driven prosecutor’s office should be a resource to policymakers and legislators. Within his pledges to reduce crime and to serve victims from backgrounds, Eric also promises to do everything possible to reduce racial and class disparities within the system. Such disparities drive crime itself.
Through his MacArthur work and partnership with Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg, Eric is proud to have introduced well-established restorative justice principles and violence reduction strategies to Lake County. Eric believes that innovative and culturally responsive solutions to crime have been well-established for decades. The question for the legal system is whether it will have the courage to widely integrate them into today’s work.
Eric graduated from Knox College in 1998 and the University of Chicago Law School in 2001.
District Court Judge
Mecklenburg County, NC
Elizabeth Thornton Trosch was appointed by former Chief Justice Cheri Beasley as the Chief District Court Judge for Mecklenburg County and served in that role from April 2020 through April 2024. In that role, she shepherded her district through transformational change. Mecklenburg County courts came through the COVID-19 pandemic stronger—having executed successful backlog reduction strategies and implemented data driven case management strategies that improved outcomes for litigants. Judge Trosch coordinated the successful launch of e-Courts in Mecklenburg County—transitioning the largest district in the state to a fully electronic case management system.
For the last sixteen years, she has endeavored to improve our courts by spear-heading efforts that improved outcomes across the district court. In child maltreatment and delinquency cases—she led our children’s services agencies and court officials in the implementation of trauma-centered services and anti-human trafficking best practices. In 2016, she coordinated with local law enforcement and the school district launch the Mecklenburg County School-Justice Partnership—to keep kids in school and out of court. Governor Cooper and former Chief Justice Beasley announced in 2019 statewide implementation of the program to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline. She has taken action to advance procedural fairness and racial justice in our courts—leveraging funding and support from the McArthur Foundation and partnerships with the county, law enforcement and criminal justice partners to implement pretrial justice reform and launch the first curriculum for criminal justice professionals in the state designed to reduce the impact of bias in decision-making. She was instrumental in the formation of the first criminal justice community engagement group with representative membership from across the county. Additionally, Judge Trosch led our court’s implementation of criminal justice debt reform and executed over 30,000 orders forgiving criminal justice debt and removing substantial barriers to employment, housing and education for Mecklenburg County residents who pose no risk to our community.
Judge Trosch is a graduate of Hollins College where she earned a B.A. in Philosophy and Social Psychology. She earned her law degree at Wake Forest University School of Law. Judge Trosch has presided over a broad range of matters, including: domestic violence, criminal proceedings, juvenile delinquency, custody, abuse and neglect proceedings as well as a variety of civil cases.