AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Victim Impact Statements:  Their Effect on Court Outcomes and Victim Satisfaction in New York, 1988-1990

The purpose of this data collection was to assess the
effects of victim impact statements on sentencing decisions and on
victim satisfaction with the criminal justice system. Victims were
randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: (1) Victims
were interviewed, with an impact statement written and immediately
distributed to the prosecutor, defense attorney, and judge on the
case, (2) Victims were interviewed to assess impact but no statement
was written, and (3) Victims were assigned to a control condition in
which there was no interview or statement. Subsequent interviews
evaluated victims' perceptions of their role in the proceedings and
their satisfaction with the outcome. Data were also recorded on
charges filed against the defendants (both the arraignment and final
charges), sentences, and special conditions of sentences. Standard
demographic information was gathered as well. The remaining variables
fall into two categories. The first category includes questions about
the defendant(s) in the case. For all defendants in each case (up to
six per victim) the researchers recorded information on the nature and
severity of the arraignment charges and final charges, and on the
sentence received. Additional information was recorded for the first
and second defendants in a case. This included information on special
conditions of the sentence such as a drug treatment program or
restraining order. Orders to pay restitution were noted. Also recorded
was information on the defendant's status with the criminal justice
system, including number of prior convictions and number of open cases
against the defendant. Finally, whether the Victim Impact Statement
appeared in the assistant district attorney's file on the case and
whether the statement had been opened were noted. The second category
of variables includes information about the victim's reactions to the
crime and the criminal justice system. Victims were asked to assess
the impact the crime had on them in terms of physical injury,
financial losses, psychological effect, and behavioral effect (i.e.,
changes in behavior resulting from the experience). They were also
questioned about their experiences with the criminal justice
system. The researchers inquired about their participation in the
sentencing decision, their satisfaction with the outcome, and how they
felt they had been treated by various court officials. Victims were
asked whether they felt that court officials were aware of and were
concerned about the effect the crime had on them. They were also asked
whether victims should have a greater role in the court proceedings
and whether court officials should be aware of victim impact as part
of the sentencing procedure. Finally, the researchers investigated
whether the victims believed that going to court was a waste of time.

Tags: convictions-law, court-cases, crime, criminal-justice-system, sentencing, trials, victims
Organization: Department of Justice
Electronic Monitoring of Nonviolent Convicted Felons:  An Experiment in Home Detention in Marion County, Indiana, 1986-1988

The purpose of the study was to provide information about
home detention monitoring systems and to evaluate their effectiveness.
The principal investigators sought to determine (1) whether electronic
monitoring systems relieved some of the burdens associated with manual
monitoring of home detention, such as making telephone calls and field
visits, (2) how home detention affected the lifestyles of offenders,
(3) whether the methods of monitoring influenced offender behavior
during the program, (4) how electronic monitoring differed from manual
monitoring in terms of supervision of the offenders, (5) how offenders
reacted to electronic monitoring, (6) how offenders' families reacted
to electronic monitoring, and (7) whether the method of monitoring
influenced the probability of an arrest or subsequent contact with the
criminal justice system after release from the program. Part 1 contains
demographic information, such as age, race, marital status, number of
children, living arrangements, employment, and education for each
offender. Also included is information on the offense leading to the
current case, including numbers and types of charges and convictions
for both felonies and misdemeanors, recommendations and judicial
disposition for the current case, and information on the criminal
history of the offender. Part 2 contains data from the intake interview
with the offender, such as information on the offender's family, living
arrangements, education, employment, past alcohol and drug use, and
expectations for the home detention program and monitoring procedures.
Part 3 contains information collected in the exit interview and is
similar in content to Part 2. Part 4 contains information on the
program delivery (type of release from the program, violations of the
program, results of tests for alcohol and drug use, errand time,
payment, contacts with offenders, and the characteristics and results
of the contacts with electronically monitored offenders). Part 5 is a
check of criminal histories of offenders for at least one year after
their release from the program.

Tags: alternatives-to-institutionalization, criminal-histories, criminal-justice-system, electronic-monitoring, felony-offenses, house-arrest, misdemeanor-offenses, offenders, program-evaluation, supervised-liberty
Organization: Department of Justice
Evaluation of the Pine Lodge Pre-Release Residential Therapeutic Community for Women Offenders in Washington State, 1996-2001

In 1996, Washington State's Department of Corrections (DOC)
implemented "New Horizons" (referred to as "First Chance" from its
inception in late 1996 to early 2000), a residential therapeutic
treatment community for drug-addicted women offenders housed within
the Pine Lodge Pre-Release minimum security and co-ed facility in the
northeastern part of the state. The target population for the program
was women who had been screened and identified as having a serious
substance abuse problem and who had 12 months or less to serve on
their sentences. Maximum capacity for this program was established at
72 treatment slots with members of the therapeutic community residing
together and separate from the rest of the general population. The
program approaches addiction as a biopsychosocial disease and strives
to restructure and develop pro-social cognitive, behavioral, and
affective skills of addicted women offenders. This study investigated
(1) factors that affected successful completion of the program, and
(2) outcomes (i.e., recidivism) for Pine Lodge participants compared
to outcomes for a control group. This project was funded by the
National Institute Justice as part of its initiative for local
evaluations of prison-based residential substance abuse treatment
programs. Data represent an outcome evaluation for Pine Lodge
residents compared to outcomes for a matched control group provided by
the Washington State Department of Corrections. Through a case-by-case
examination of the datasets from Pine Lodge and the Washington State
DOC, the researchers created a data file that contained program
completion/non-completion data and demographic variables for 322 Pine
Lodge participants and a control group of 279 women. Variables include
the month and year admitted to the Pine Lodge program, reason for
leaving the program, race/ethnicity, crime committed, month and year
started the program, sentence length, age, number of months in the
program, education level, number of previous offenses, number of
months at risk to reoffend, whether reconvicted after release, number
of months between release and reconviction, and reconviction offense.

Tags: correctional-facilities, drug-treatment, female-offenders, inmate-programs, outcome-evaluation, prerelease-programs, program-evaluation, residential-programs, substance-abuse-treatment, treatment-facilities, treatment-outcome, treatment-programs
Organization: Department of Justice
Evaluation of Utah's Early Intervention Mandate:  Juvenile Sentencing Guidelines and Intermediate Sanctions, 1996-2000

This study was an evaluation of changes initiated by the
 State of Utah to reduce youth crime: a program of early intervention
 comprised of Juvenile Sentencing Guidelines and a new intermediate
 sanction called State Supervision. Together, the Sentencing Guidelines
 and State Supervision sanction were designed to bring about a
 reduction in juvenile recidivism rates and subsequently reduce the
 number of offenders placed out of the home in the custody of the
 Division of Youth Corrections by 5 percent. Researchers combined
 quantitative measures of sentencing guidelines compliance and
 recidivism rates with qualitative interviews of juvenile justice
 system personnel and youth offenders. Data were gathered on all
 offenders receiving a sentence to probation for the first time from
 January to June during 1996 and 1999, enabling a comparison of
 offenders before and after program implementation (Part 1, Juvenile
 Information System Data). Part 1 data include demographic data, prior
 charges, age at start of probation, detention use, reoffense, and
 commitment to Youth Corrections. Interviews with 168 court and
 corrections personnel were conducted in two interview rounds, from
 June to December 1999, and again from July to September 2000,
 soliciting their views of the sentencing guidelines, state
 supervision, and probation (Parts 2-3, Juvenile Justice System
 Personnel Interviews, Rounds 1 and 2). Interviews with 229 youth
 offenders obtained information on their involvement with and views of
 the sentencing guidelines, state supervision, and probation during a
 single interview in either the first or second round (Parts 4-5, Youth
 Offender Interviews, Rounds 1 and 2). A random sample of paper case
 files for pre- and post-guideline offenders was selected to analyze
 changes in contact and interventions provided (Part 6, Youth Offender
 Case File Analysis). These files were examined for documentation of
 contact frequency and type with offenders and their families and the
number and types of programs used.

Tags: intervention, juvenile-courts, juvenile-offenders, juvenile-recidivists, juvenile-sentencing, outcome-evaluation, program-evaluation, sentencing-guidelines
Organization: Department of Justice
Intimate Partner Homicide in California, 1987-2000

Since 1976, the United States has witnessed a steady and
precipitous decline in intimate partner homicides. This study builds
on the work of Dugan et al. (1999, 2000) and Browne and Williams
(1989) by examining, in greater detail, the relationship between
intimate partner homicide and gender, race, criminal justice system
response, and domestic violence services. Specifically, the study
examines the net effect of criminal justice system response and
federally-funded domestic violence shelters on victimization of white,
African American, and Hispanic males and females. This study used
aggregated data from the 58 counties in California from 1987 to
2000. Homicide data were gathered by the State of California
Department of Justice, Criminal Justice Statistics Center. Data on
domestic violence resources were obtained from the Governor's Office
of Criminal Justice Planning, Domestic Violence Branch, in the form of
detailed reports from domestic violence shelters in the state. Based
on these records, the researchers computed the number of
federally-funded shelter-based organizations in a given county over
time. Data on criminal justice responses at the county level were
gathered from the State of California Department of Justice, Criminal
Justice Statistics Center. These data included domestic violence
arrests and any convictions and incarceration that followed those
arrests. The researchers disaggregated these criminal justice system
measures by race and gender. In order to account for population
differences and changes over time, rates were computed per 100,000
adults (age 18 and older).

Tags: african-americans, arrest-rates, battered-women, criminal-justice-system, domestic-violence, ethnicity, gender, hispanic-or-latino-americans, homicide, victimization, white-americans, womens-shelters
Organization: Department of Justice
Process Evaluation of the Comprehensive Communities Program in Selected Cities in the United States, 1994-1996

This study was a process evaluation of the Comprehensive Communities Program (CCP) intended to develop insights into how community approaches to crime and drug abuse prevention and control evolved, to track how each site implemented its comprehensive strategy, to determine the influence of preexisting ecological, social, economic, and political factors on implementation, and to monitor the evolution of strategies and projects over time.  Intensive evaluations were done at six CCP sites: Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; Columbia, South Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Seattle, Washington. Less intensive evaluations were done at six other CCP sites: Gary, Indiana; Hartford, Connecticut; Wichita, Kansas; the Denver, Colorado, metropolitan area; the Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area; and the East Bay area of northern California. At all 12 sites, 2 waves of a Coalition Survey (Parts 1 and 2) were sent to everyone who participated in CCP. Likewise, 2 waves of the Community Policing Survey (Parts 3 and 4) were sent to the police chiefs of all 12 sites. Finally, all 12 sites were visited by researchers at least once (Parts 5 to 13). Variables found in this data collection include problems facing the communities, the implementation of CCP programs, the use of community policing, and the effectiveness of the CCP programs and community policing efforts.

Tags: community-decision-making, community-development, community-involvement, community-leaders, community-organizations, community-participation, community-policing, crime-control, crime-reduction, neighborhood-change, police-citizen-interactions, police-comm
Organization: Department of Justice
Survey of Citizens' Attitudes Toward Community-Oriented Law Enforcement in Alachua County, Florida, 1996

This study sought to identify the impact of the
 communication training program given to deputies in Alachua County,
 Florida, on the community's attitudes toward community law enforcement
 activities, particularly crime prevention and neighborhood patrols. To
 determine the success of the communication training for the Alachua
 deputies, researchers administered a survey to residents in the target
 neighborhood before the communication program was implemented (Part
 1: Pretest Data) and again after the program had been established
 (Part 2: Post-Test Data). The survey instrument developed for use in
 this study was designed to assess neighborhood respondents' attitudes
 regarding (1) community law enforcement, defined as the assignment of
 deputies to neighborhoods on a longer term (not just patrol) basis
 with the goal of developing and implementing crime prevention
 programs, (2) the communication skills of deputies assigned to the
 community, and (3) the perceived importance of community law
 enforcement activities. For both parts, residents were asked how
 important it was to (1) have the same deputies assigned to their
 neighborhoods, (2) personally know the names of their deputies, and
 (3) work with the deputies on crime watch programs. Residents were
 asked if they agreed that the sheriff's office dealt with the
 neighborhood residents effectively, were good listeners, were easy to
 talk to, understood and were interested in what the residents had to
 say, were flexible, were trustworthy, were safe to deal with, and were
 straightforward, respectful, considerate, honest, reliable, friendly,
 polite, informed, smart, and helpful. Demographic variables include
 the gender, race, age, income, employment status, and educational
level of each respondent.

Tags: citizen-attitudes, communication, community-policing, crime-control-programs, crime-prevention, law-enforcement, perception-of-crime, police-citizen-interactions, police-community-relations, police-performance, police-relations-programs, social-interactio
Organization: Department of Justice
Families As a Resource in Recovery From Drug Abuse in New York City, 1999-2001

This study examined La Bodega de la Familia, an
 experimental program for drug-abusing offenders and their families in
 New York City. The study evaluated the outcomes of substance abusers
 and their families who participated in La Bodega's family case
 management by comparing them to a group of similar families that did
 not participate in the program. Data were collected on 93 La Bodega
 participants and 88 comparison subjects. Data were gathered through
 structured interviews conducted when subjects entered the study and
 six months later. The first round of interviews was conducted from
 January 1999 through August 2000, and the second round was conducted
 between August 1999 and January 2001. The interviews were based on a
 standardized instrument that assessed self-reported physical and
mental health, family functioning, and social support.

Tags: case-management, drug-abuse, families, health, offenders, social-support
Organization: Department of Justice
Evaluation of the Use of Computers in Patrol Cars by the San Francisco Police Department, 1999-2000

In an effort to reduce the workload of police officers
participating in problem-solving and community-oriented activities,
the San Francisco Police Department applied for and was awarded a
Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Making Officer
Redeployment Effective (MORE) grant in 1995 to integrate Mobile
Computing Terminals (MCTs), or laptop computers, into its daily
operations. The National Institute of Justice funded an evaluation of
this COPS MORE initiative. The evaluation examined the efficacy of a
technological intervention to improve operational efficiency, service
quality, and the corresponding changes in officers' attitudes and
behaviors associated with integrating the use of MCTs for computerized
incident reporting into the work process. The two systematic methods
of data collection used for this research project were
pencil-and-paper surveys of officers' attitudes toward computers and
community policing and direct observation of the behavior of officers
on patrol, including measurements of time to complete reports and time
engaged in police activities.

Tags: attitudes, community-policing, computers, police, police-equipment, police-patrol, police-performance, police-reports, police-training, time-utilization
Organization: Department of Justice
Attitudes Toward Crime and Punishment in Vermont:  Public Opinion About an Experiment With Restorative Justice, 1999

By the summer of 1998, the Vermont Department of
Corrections (DOC) had completed three years of operational experience
with "restorative justice," a concept that involves compensating
victims and establishing community-based reparative boards that
determine how offenders can make amends for their crimes. The purpose
of this project was to update the benchmark findings from an earlier
survey of Vermont residents in 1994, to assess public attitudes about
the reforms and changes that had been instituted by the Vermont DOC,
and to explore the possibility of expansion of responsibilities of the
reparative community boards. This project involved a telephone survey
of a new sample of 601 adult residents of Vermont. The interviewing
was conducted on March 15-21, 1999. Respondents were asked a series of
trend questions to update the 1994 findings. Respondents were also
asked questions about two other programs: the diversion program, in
which selected first offenders who fulfilled the terms of a
community-based sanction could have their records expunged, and the
furlough program, in which offenders making the transition from prison
to the community were supervised for an interim period. The survey
also explored whether Vermonters would like to see the
responsibilities of the reparative boards expanded to include
community notification and other types of cases. Residents assessed
whether crime in general, violent crime, and illegal drug use had
increased compared to five years prior, whether more prisons should be
built, whether Vermont's jails and prisons were overcrowded, and
whether violent offenders were being released before completing their
sentences because of overcrowding. They commented on how often
offenders in four scenarios should go to prison and how often they
believed that these offenders in fact did go to prison. Respondents
rated the performance of various segments of the Vermont criminal
justice system and, given 15 offense scenarios, were asked whether the
offender should spend time in jail or in community service and
rehabilitation. In addition, respondents were asked whether anyone in
their household had been a victim of a crime within the last three
years and, if so, whether it was a violent crime. Demographic data
include sex, employment, education, race/ethnicity, and age category
of the respondent, and the county and region where the resident
lived.

Tags: alternatives-to-institutionalization, communities, community-service-programs, correctional-facilities, corrections-management, criminal-histories, diversion-programs, program-evaluation, public-opinion, restitution-programs, restorative-justice, victim-c
Organization: Department of Justice
Survey of Prosecutorial Response to Bias-Motivated Crime in the United States, 1994-1995

This national survey of prosecutors was undertaken to
systematically gather information about the handling of bias or hate
crime prosecutions in the United States. The goal was to use this
information to identify needs and to enhance the ability of
prosecutors to respond effectively to hate crimes by promoting
effective practices. The survey aimed to address the following
research questions: (1) What was the present level of bias crime
prosecution in the United States? (2) What training had been provided
to prosecutors to assist them in prosecuting hate- and bias-motivated
crimes and what additional training would be beneficial? (3) What
types of bias offenses were prosecuted in 1994-1995? (4) How were bias
crime cases assigned and to what extent were bias crime cases given
priority? and (5) What factors or issues inhibited a prosecutor's
ability to prosecute bias crimes? In 1995, a national mail survey was
sent to a stratified sample of prosecutor offices in three phases to
solicit information about prosecutors' experiences with hate
crimes. Questions were asked about size of jurisdiction, number of
full-time staff, number of prosecutors and investigators assigned to
bias crimes, and number of bias cases prosecuted. Additional questions
measured training for bias-motivated crimes, such as whether staff
received specialized training, whether there existed a written policy
on bias crimes, how well prosecutors knew the bias statute, and
whether there was a handbook on bias crime. Information elicited on
case processing included the frequency with which certain criminal
acts were charged and sentenced as bias crimes, the existence of a
special bias unit, case tracking systems, preparation of witnesses,
jury selection, and case disposition. Other topics specifically
covered bias related to racial or ethnic differences, religious
differences, sexual orientation, and violence against women.

Tags: case-processing, disposition-legal, hate-crimes, judicial-process, prosecuting-attorneys, prosecution, training
Organization: Department of Justice