Welcome to the Municipal Courts Video Curriculum. These short videos offer a concentrated introduction to American municipal courts, their importance to our criminal system, their role in local governance, and the challenges they face. The videos show examples of municipal court programs and innovations from around the country, with expert commentary from judges, scholars, legal advocates, and community activists. We hope these videos will help students, educators, lawyers, journalists, and many others to better understand and engage these important courts.
Harvard Law School
Birmingham, AL
ArchCity Defenders
Princeton University
Arizona State University
Birmingham, AL
Skagit County, WA
Alliance for Justice
Vanderbilt Law School
Utah Judiciary
Ruchelle Pride, OJP/CASA
Franklin County, OH
Fines and Fees Justice Ctr.
Boulder, CO
Toledo, OH
Spokane, WA
CJCC, Coconino Cty., AZ
GRAE
Ctr. for Justice Innovation
These videos were adapted by Professor Natapoff from a 2025 webinar series created by the Center for Justice Innovation with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Click HERE to watch the full length webinars. Nothing in these videos constitutes legal advice.
This curriculum is part of the multimedia video casebook series Constitutional Rights in Black & White (CRBW). To learn more, go to CRBW.law.harvard.edu.