Thoughts on Some Potential Appellate and Trial Court Applications of Therapeutic Jurisprudence

Authors

Steve Leben, University of Missouri - Kansas City, School of LawFollow

Publication Date

2000

Document Type

Article

Abstract

To date, the application of therapeutic jurisprudence principles has been concentrated mainly on specialized trial courts: drug treat­ment courts, domestic violence courts, criminal courts, and juvenile and family courts. Its application to trial courts generally, as well as its application to the appellate courts, remains largely unexplored. This Article considers three areas in which trial and appellate courts may want to consider applying therapeutic jurisprudence.

My conclusions about the application of therapeutic jurispru­dence to the appellate courts are admittedly tentative ones: my day job is sitting as a state general jurisdiction trial judge, not as an appel­late court judge. Although I have had the opportunity to sit by desig­nation on my state's appellate courts, the writing of appellate opinions is not my daily fare. From my vantage point, however, both trial and appellate courts can, in many instances, do similar types of things to achieve a more therapeutic outcome.

Publication Title

Seattle University Law Review

Volume

24

Issue

2

Recommended Citation

Steve Leben, Thoughts on Some Potential Appellate and Trial Court Applications of Therapeutic Jurisprudence, 24 Seattle University Law Review 467 (2000).
Available at: https://irlaw.umkc.edu/faculty_works/268