Rowan County Chief District Court Judge Charlie Brown directed 75 judges in a statewide training on criminal punishment and sentencing.
Brown spoke Thursday and Friday to district court judges at the N.C. Judicial College in Chapel Hill.
An effective sentence should reduce the risk of future victimization and threats to public safety, Brown said. Sentencing policies that attempt to control crime solely by punishing the offender’s past action without an effort to influence future behavior are shortsighted and endanger public safety, he said.
To improve public safety and reduce recidivism, Brown advocated the expanded use of evidence-based practices and programs, including tools to assess an offender’s risk and needs.
By expanding effective community corrections programs such as GPS-based electronic house arrest and continuous alcohol monitoring, authorities can control an offender while reducing risk to the community, Brown said.
In addition to speaking as a trainer, Brown led group discussion involving case scenarios designed to apply sentencing policy and explore punishment philosophies.
The School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill invited Brown to speak. The Administrative Office of the Courts and the N.C. Judicial College hosted the seminar. Brown serves on the N.C. Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission and the Rowan County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council. He was elected to the district court bench in 1998 and appointed chief judge in 2001.