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william t. rossiter award

This year's recipient is

Honorable Judge Stephen Manley

Honorable Judge Stephen Manley is a Superior Court Judge in Santa Clara County, and has served on the Bench for 30 years. He has served as a Presiding Judge. Presently, he is the Supervising Judge of all Felony drug cases as well as all mental health cases in the Criminal Division of the Court.
He was a founder of the Drug Treatment Court in Santa Clara County in 1994, he founded the Santa Clara County Mental Health Court in 1999, presently, the largest mental health treatment court in the United States, working with Seriously Mentally Ill offenders as well as those who have Co-Occurring Disorders, and has presided over the program for 10 years.  In addition he presides over one of two State Parolee Reentry Courts in the State of California working directly with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.  He also established a Veterans Treatment Court in 2008 in  collaboration with the local Veterans Administration  and County agencies to work with offenders, nearly all of whom suffer from co-occurring disorders, at all stages of criminal proceedings.

He is the President of the California Association of Drug Court Professionals, and a past member and officer of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals.
He serves by appointment of the Chief Justice on the Judicial Council Task Force for Mental Health Issues, and Chairs the Post Adjudication, and Re-Entry Committee that is currently making recommendations to the Judicial Council of California on proposed reforms to laws and practices relating to mentally ill offenders.  He also serves as a member of the Judicial Council Advisory Committee on Collaborative Justice Courts.

He has drafted proposed and enacted legislation in California in the areas of mental health courts, reentry courts, offenders who are Veterans, juvenile delinquency, family dependency and other California Court reforms and innovative programs.  In 2009, he helped draft and advocated for State Legislation that created a Parole Reentry Court pilot program for  up to 6  counties in California that was funded in the amount of $10 million and is in the implementation phase.

He also serves as a member of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Commission on Parole Reentry.  He represents the Judicial Council of California as the Co-Chair of the Statewide Steering Committee that oversees State funding for 247 California Drug, Mental Health and other Courts, and has worked to secure funding each year for the expansion of these courts that has grown from $3 million to nearly $40 million for criminal, mental health, delinquency and family dependency drug courts at a time other programs have been cut or eliminated in California.  He serves on the faculty of the California Judicial College and has taught many courses in the Continuing Judicial Education program in the areas of drug abuse, mental health, sentencing, reentry, and collaborative courts.

He has presented testimony to Sub Committees of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, as well as select committees of the California Legislature and Little Hoover Commission in support of Drug Courts and Evidence Based Sentencing Reform, and has advocated for these changes.

In 2008, he received the Chief Justice’s Award for Exemplary Service and Leadership from California Chief Justice Ronald George, as well as recognition by the California District Attorney’s Association, the State Council on Mentally Ill Offenders and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill for his leadership.

He is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford Law School.