Special Courts Head Off Domestic Violence

The mom in Metro Court Judge Sharon Walton comes out sometimes when she speaks to participants in the domestic violence repeat offenders program over which she presides. So does the social worker, the psychologist, the prison warden and the problem solver – all roles that help her run a specialty court like this one, which handles some of Albuquerque’s toughest misdemeanor cases. “How are you feeling?” she asks a 42-year-old man, whose conviction for a 2013 misdemeanor battery against a household member, the latest of many charges, landed him in the program. The man, Walton is told in a meeting before court with his treatment coordinator and probation officer, is struggling with personal issues, which are threatening his sobriety. “It’s a real vulnerable time when you’re feeling bad,” Walton tells him.