AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Statewide Impact Evaluation of Domestic Violence Courts and Recidivism in New York, 1993-2010

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they there received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except of the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompany readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collections and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.The purpose of this study was to answer the following research questions:Do domestic violence courts reduce recidivism?Do domestic violence courts hold defendants accountable through the use of more severe case outcomes and sentences?What, if any, court-level policies make these courts more or less effective (e.g., related to eligibility, program mandates, compliance monitoring, or victim service)?What, if any community characteristics make these courts more or less effective (e.g., related to population size, racial composition, or socioeconomic characteristics)?Based on individual characteristics (e.g., age, criminal history, or current charges), which categories of defendants are at a high risk of re-offending; and are certain categories particularly responsive to the domestic violence court intervention?Outcome were compared between matched samples of defendants (Full File Data, n=17,718 and Convicted File Data, n=7,306) processed in the 24 domestic violence courts and in conventional courts operating in the same 24 jurisdictions in New York state prior to the opening of the specialized court. Cases processed in each domestic violence court during its first two full calendar years of operations comprised the domestic violence court sample. Cases processed in conventional courts during the two full calendar years preceding the opening of the specialized court comprised the comparison sample. Data on court policies and practices was drawn from two survey instruments administered to each of the 24 courts (Court and Community Characteristics Data, n=48). The first survey was administered statewide in 2008; the second was a supplemental survey administered in 2010.

Tags: case-processing, court-system, domestic-violence, felony-offenses, intimate-partner-violence, misdemeanor-offenses, recidivism-prediction
Organization: Department of Justice
Impact Evaluation of the National Crime Victim Law Institute's Victims' Rights Clinics, 2009-2010 [United States]

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.The purpose of the impact evaluation was to gauge the success of the victim's rights clinics in attaining each of the following goalsAid in enforcing rights for individual victims and getting them help for crime-related needs, thereby increasing satisfaction of victims with the justice process;Change attitudes of criminal justice officials towards victims' rights and increase their knowledge about rights;Change the legal landscape: establish victim standing and develop positive case law;Increase compliance of criminal justice officials with victims' rights; andSustain the clinic through developing alternative sources of fundingResearchers conducted surveys with prosecutors, judges, victim advocates, and defense attorneys to determine whether they had changed their attitudes toward victims' rights since the local clinic opened its doors. Surveys were fielded in South Carolina, Maryland, and Utah (Criminal Justice Official data, n=552) where clinic evaluations were conducted. An additional survey was fielded in Colorado (Colorado data, n=583) where the victim rights clinic had not yet started to accept cases. To determine the effect that clinics had on observance of victims' rights, researchers collected three samples of cases from prosecutors (NCVLI Case File Data, n=757) in the jurisdiction or jurisdictions in which each local clinic had done the most work: (a) all clinic cases closed since the start of  each local clinic; (b) cases closed during the most recent 12-month period which did not involve representation by a clinic attorney; and (c) cases closed in the year prior to the start of each local clinic. Finally, to assess the impact of the clinics on victims' satisfaction with the criminal justice process and its compliance with their rights, researchers conducted telephone interviews (Victim Survey Data, n=125) with two samples of victims in each evaluation site, one drawn from the sample of cases at prosecutor offices and one drawn from the crime victim legal clinics.

Tags: criminal-courts, criminal-justice-programs, criminal-justice-system, victim-rights, victim-services, victimization
Organization: Department of Justice
Reduction of False Convictions through Improved Identification Procedures: Further Refinements for Street Practice and Public Policy, 1983-2010, in five countries.


These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.


This study was a three part project which evaluated the procedural aspects of police lineups. The first part was a meta-analysis of existing laboratory data on comparative eyewitness accuracy rates for sequential versus simultaneous lineups. The second part was three experiments on the elements of current field lineup practices in simultaneous and sequential lineups. The third part was a field experiment in Tucson, Arizona, which tested double-blind simultaneous versus double-blind sequential lineups.


Tags: eyewitness-memory, witness-credibility, witnesses
Organization: Department of Justice
Therapeutic Change, Length of Stay, and Recidivism in Incarcerated Juvenile Offenders in Washington State, 2008-2015

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
This is a quasi-experimental, observational study using administrative data to assess whether time in juvenile placement was associated with the acquisition of social-emotional skills and subsequent felony recidivism.  Concurrent with a change in juvenile sentencing policy in Washington State a comprehensive risk and needs assessment tool (R-PACT) was piloted to investigate the impact that therapeutically oriented incarceration had on youth. This tool was made up of 12 domains of risk and needs, including a section on dynamic factors related to therapeutic skills.  Youth were admitted into the study in two cohorts, a main study cohort and a replication study cohort. 

Tags: juvenile-detention, juvenile-offenders, juvenile-recidivists, juvenile-sentencing, policy, therapeutic-jurisprudence, treatment-outcome
Organization: Department of Justice
Responding to Fiscal Challenges in State Correctional Systems: A National Study of Prison Closings and Alternative Strategies, 2007-2012

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
This study addresses changes to state correctional systems and policies in response to correctional spending limits brought on by the worsening economic climate beginning in late 2007. These changes include institutional changes, such as closing prisons and reducing staffing, "back-end" strategies, such as reductions in sentence lengths and reduced parolee supervision, and "front-end" measures, such as funding trade-offs between other governmental and social services. 
A survey of the 50 state correctional administrators addressed fiscal stress, including size and characteristics of the prison population, prison crowding, prison expenditures, institutional safety, staff morale, public safety and other justice spending. Additionally, six states were selected for in depth case studies, which included interviews with facility personnel and site visits by research staff in order to thoroughly understand the challenges faced and the resulting decisions made. 
Additionally, each state's demographic, correctional spending, and overall financial information was collected from census and other publicly available reports. Information on the overall health and safety of the inmates was examined through an econometric comparison of funding levels and statistics as to prisoner mortality, crime and incarceration rates. 

Tags: budget-cuts, corrections, fiscal-policy, prison-administration, prison-conditions, prison-construction
Organization: Department of Justice
Evaluation of Day Fines in Maricopa County, Arizona, 1991-1993

This study sought to evaluate how well day fines work as an
 intermediate sanction. Day fines are a structured approach to imposing
 fines that considers both the offender's ability to pay and the
 severity of the offense. The program involves two steps: (1) a
 determination of the number of fine units for an offense, based on the
 severity of the offense, and (2) a valuation of fine units, based on
 the offender's net daily income, hence the name "day fines". While
 four jurisdictions participated in the day fines evaluation, only the
 site in Maricopa County, Arizona, was structured in such a way to
 allow for a quasi-experimental research design. Therefore, this
 collection only contains data from the Financial Assessment Related to
 Employability (FARE) day fines program in Maricopa County. The FARE
 program was started in 1991 and targeted felony offenders with little
 need for supervision or treatment -- in other words, the low risk-low
 need defendant. The intent of the program was to draw clients from the
 population of offenders who would traditionally receive routine
 probation, thus serving as an intermediate sanction between routine
 and summary probation. The major research strategy was to consider the
 FARE-sentenced offenders as the experimental group and to construct a
 similar comparison group out of the offenders sentenced by non-day
 fines judges. The design involved three major steps: (1)
 identification of 1991 and 1992 defendants who received a FARE
 sentence, (2) screening of sentenced defendants in non-FARE courts
 using FARE eligibility criteria to match the FARE participants, and
 (3) coding background and 12-month follow-up information for both FARE
 and comparison group offenders from probation and clerk files to
 record background information, monetary payments, and any technical
 violations and arrests occurring during the 12-month follow-up
 period. Variables in Part 1, Fines Paid Data, include the total amount
 of the fine and how much of the fine was applied to probation fees,
 reimbursement, restitution, and victim compensation. Part 2, Official
 Records Data, contains background information such as arrest history,
 marital status, education, drug use, and drug treatment. Additional
 information includes current arrest, recommended sentence,
 disposition, sentence imposed, employment and income, and risk/needs
 assessment. Six- and 12-month reviews collected data on supervisory
 status, technical violations, new arrests, payment enforcement, and
payment term revisions.

Tags: arrest-records, felony-offenses, fines, offenders, probation, program-evaluation, sanctions, sentencing
Organization: Department of Justice
Evaluation of Internet Safety Materials Used by Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces in School and Community Settings, 2011-2012 [United States]

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
The purpose of this study was to conduct content and process evaluations of current internet safety education (ISE) program materials and their use by law enforcement presenters and schools. The study was divided into four sub-projects. First, a systematic review or "meta-synthesis" was conducted to identify effective elements of prevention identified by the research across different youth problem areas such as drug abuse, sex education, smoking prevention, suicide, youth violence, and school failure. The process resulted in the development of a KEEP (Known Elements of Effective Prevention) Checklist. Second, a content analysis was conducted on four of the most well-developed and long-standing youth internet safety curricula: i-SAFE, iKeepSafe, Netsmartz, and Web Wise Kids. Third, a process evaluation was conducted to better understand how internet safety education programs are being implemented. The process evaluation was conducted via national surveys with three different groups of respondents: Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force commanders (N=43), ICAC Task Force presenters (N=91), and a sample of school professionals (N=139). Finally, researchers developed an internet safety education outcome survey focused on online harassment and digital citizenship. The intention for creating and piloting this survey was to provide the field with a research-based tool that can be used in future evaluation and program monitoring efforts.

Tags: cyber-security, digital-communications, internet, process-evaluation, school-age-children
Organization: Department of Justice
Understanding the Causes and Consequences of Inmate Misconduct Within and Across Correctional Facilities in Kentucky and Ohio, 2007-2009

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.This study involved an examination of the relative effects of measures of inmate characteristics, features of facility environments, and managerial practices, including the perceived legitimacy of the correctional staff, on both the prevalence and incidence of violent, drug, and other nonviolent misconduct.Inmate, officer, and facility data were collected from each of the 33 facilities for adults in Ohio and each of the 13 state operated facilities for adults in Kentucky. The inmate data (Inmate Level Data, n=5,640) includes information on inmates collected through on-site surveys, and then supplemented with information from administrative records. The officer data (Correctional Officer Data, n=1,841) includes information on correctional officers collected through a mail survey, and then supplemented with information retrieved from administrative records. Facility data (Facility Level Data, n=46) were derived from aggregating responses to the inmate survey, from administrative records and from semi-structured interviews conducted with the wardens of each facility.

Tags: correctional-facilities, correctional-facilities-adults, correctional-officers, correctional-system, inmate-attitudes, inmate-classification, inmate-populations, inmates
Organization: Department of Justice
Implementation of a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Practitioner Evaluation Toolkit, 2010-2012 Six Sites

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
To address the under-reporting and under-prosecution of adult sexual assaults, some communities in the United States implemented the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program whereby specially trained nurses provide comprehensive psychological, medical, and forensic services for sexual assault to improve post-assault care for victims and the criminal justice system response. The SANE Practitioner Toolkit was created to teach SANE program staff how to evaluate whether prosecution rates increased in their communities after the implantation of their SAME program.
 Six SANE programs were selected and provided with comprehensive technical assistance to help them work through the steps in the Toolkit in order to evaluate whether the program was having a beneficial impact on prosecution rates. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the SANE program to increase prosecution rates of sexual assaults through the SANE Practitioner Evaluation Toolkit, and the technical assistance process and resources provided to the sites improved their evaluative abilities. 

Tags: forensic-sciences, nurses, process-evaluation, program-evaluation, prosecution, psychological-evaluation, sexual-assault
Organization: Department of Justice
United States Sentencing Commission (USSC): Defendants Sentenced Under the Sentencing Reform Act, 1992-2009

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped for NACJD release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.The purpose of the study was to examine how court decisions and sentencing policy changes have affected sentencing behavior in federal drug trafficking cases. Changes at the district level and in mandatory minimum sentencing were a particular focus.Data were obtained from the Defendants Sentenced Under the Sentencing Reform Act data from the United States Sentencing Commission from fiscal years 1992-2009. These data were then merged with federal district-level indicators for the 89 federal districts from the Federal Court Management Statistics website, and state level demographic data from the United States Census Bureau. Drug trafficking cases were identified by using the sentencing guideline offense, which resulted in a sample of N=376,637 cases.

Tags: drug-law-offenses, drug-traffic, sentencing, sentencing-guidelines, sentencing-reforms
Organization: Department of Justice
Organizational Efficiency and Early Disposition Programs in Federal Courts, 2006-2009

These data are part of NACJD's Rapid Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
This study is an evaluation of the "fast-track" program that was created to alleviate caseload pressures caused by a dramatic increase in immigration-related cases. This program allows a federal prosecutor to offer a below guideline sentence in exchange for a defendant's prompt guilty plea and a waiver of certain rights. Research questions addressed in the study included: (1) to what extent do fast-track programs impact the efficient processing of (primarily) immigration cases and (2) to what extent does prosecutorial discretion exercised in fast-track processing contribute to sentencing disparity.

Tags: disposition-legal, federal-courts, immigration-offenses, program-evaluation, prosecutorial-discretion, sentencing-guidelines
Organization: Department of Justice
Monitoring High-Risk Sex Offenders with GPS Technology in California, 2006-2009

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped for NACJD release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
The purpose of the evaluation was to determine the effectiveness of global positioning system (GPS) monitoring of high-risk sex offenders (HRSOs) who were placed on parole in California between 2006 and 2009. This study integrates both outcome and process evaluation components to assess the impact of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) GPS supervision program by employing a nonequivalent-group quasi-experimental design with a multilevel survival model. The outcome of interest was recidivism. A propensity score matching procedure was used to account for the differences between the treatment and comparison groups. Parolee data were collected from six sources: the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) data management system, official arrest records, parole supervision records, GPS monitoring data, CDCR cost information, and a CDCR parole agent survey. The final sample included 516 parolees equally divided between the treatment and control groups and 153 GPS parole agents with HRSO caseloads.

Tags: parole-officers, parole-services, parole-violation, parolees, sex-offenders
Organization: Department of Justice
The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in New York City, 1982-2007

This multi-method project sought to gain a better understanding of the commercial sexually exploited children (CSEC) population, particularly its size, characteristics, needs, and geographic spread in New York City. It represents a first attempt to understand the CSEC population in a major metropolitan area and to examine a concerted institutional effort to meet its needs. Three forms of data were collected in the project: questionnaire data, interview data, and network data. The project used Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) to identify commercial sexually exploited children (CSEC) in New York City. Interviews were conducted with 230 youths between January 2006 and December 2007. Quantitative surveys regarding the frequency and quality of cross-stakeholder communication were administered at the beginning of the evaluation and one year later. For the purpose of trend analysis of CSEC related offenses, research staff obtained citywide arrest and prosecution data on child prostitution, exploitation, and solicitation of a minor. The New York City Criminal Justice Agency (CJA) provided arrest data for arrestees under 19 years of age in all five boroughs of New York City from January 1, 1998 through December 31, 2006.

Tags: adolescents, child-abuse, children, prostitution, sex-offenses, sexual-abuse, sexual-exploitation
Organization: Department of Justice