AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Court Workforce Racial Diversity and Racial Justice in Criminal Case Outcomes in the United States, 2000-2005

The purpose of this study was to determine whether workgroup racial composition is related to sentence outcomes generally, and racial differences in sentencing in particular, across federal districts.  This collection contains information on federal court district characteristics. Data include information about the social context, court context, and diversity of the courtroom workgroup for 90 federal judicial districts provided by 50 judicial district context variables.

Tags: case-processing, court-cases, court-system, courtroom-proceedings, courts, district-courts, federal-courts, judicial-decisions, justice, labor-force, race, race-relations, sentencing
Organization: Department of Justice
Pennsylvania Task Force on Prison Overcrowding, 2004-2005

The current jail population control study is the second phase of a two-part inquiry by the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania that began in 2003. Phase II builds upon the findings of the initial survey by using a number of information sources to obtain data with which to examine in greater detail the reasons and remedies for jail overcrowding. The Phase II study was implemented in September 2004 and was designed to examine jail population control data from four sources: Pennsylvania Statewide Jail Survey (Part 1), Intensive Site Visits to selected Pennsylvania Counties (Part 2), National Association of Counties (NACo) Best Practices Survey, and National Institute of Corrections (NIC) Technical Assistance reports. The Pennsylvania Statewide Survey (Part 1, Pennsylvania Statewide Survey Quantitative Data) was sent to all counties operating their own jails in September 2004. Surveys were mailed to 63 of the state's 67 counties. Counties were selected for intensive site visits (Part 2, Intensive Site Visit Qualitative Data) based largely on the results of the Phase I survey and focused on counties with the most extreme crowding problems and/or expressing interest in tackling population control issues. Visits were made to 14 of the state's 67 counties between September 2004 and May 2005. Part 1 includes variables on jail capacity and population, construction, population control measures, potential change targets, and transportation issues. Part 2 includes background to the site visit, site visit agenda and aims, and an exploration of population control options.

Tags: alternatives-to-institutionalization, policies-and-procedures, policy-analysis, prison-conditions, prison-overcrowding
Organization: Department of Justice
Impact of Proactive Enforcement of No-Contact Orders on Victim Safety and Repeat Victimization in Lexington County, South Carolina, 2005-2008

The study focused on domestic violence victims whose alleged batterers were free on bond with a no-contact order (NCO) as a condition of their release in Lexington County, South Carolina between 2005 and 2008. The project involved a prospective, randomized experimental study in which 466 NCO cases were randomly assigned to either the current level of NCO enforcement (the control condition, N=229) or to proactive enforcement (the treatment condition, N=237). An additional 51 interim control cases were enrolled in the study during a coverage gap between the two officers that implemented the treatment condition over the course of the study. The treatment condition involved the following intervention: (1) a special domestic violence investigator assigned by the jurisdiction's sheriff proactively "checked in" with the "treatment" group of victims to verify that they understood the NCO and to monitor compliance; (2) the investigator provided advice on mobilizing law enforcement and collecting evidence to help sanction the offender if the order was violated. Data were collected from official Lexington County Sheriff's Department (LCSD), Criminal Domestic Violence Court (CDVC), and Office of Diversion Programs (ODP) records (Dataset 1, Offender Data). Efforts were made to interview victims at six weeks (Dataset 2, Time 1 Victim Interview Data, N=141) and six months (Dataset 3, Time 2 Victim Interview Data, N=100) after the gateway arrest. Dataset 4 (Combined Time 1/Time 2 Victim Interview Data, N=97) include overall measures for respondents who completed both the Time 1 and Time 2 interviews. The victim interviews include measures on background characteristics, life experiences, circumstances surrounding the "gateway incident" which resulted in the case being enrolled in the study, and subsequent victimization experiences and no-contact order compliance levels.

Tags: battered-women, domestic-violence, misdemeanor-offenses, recidivism, restraining-orders, victim-safety
Organization: Department of Justice
Reentry Mapping Network Project in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Washington, DC, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 2003-2004

The Urban Institute established the Reentry Mapping Network (RMN), a group of jurisdictions applying a data-driven, spatial approach to prisoner reentry. The purpose of the study was to examine three National Institute of Justice-funded RMN sites: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Washington, DC, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  As members of the Reentry Mapping Network, the three sites collected local data related to incarceration, reentry, and community well-being. The Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee's Neighborhood Data Center was the lead Reentry Mapping Network partner in Milwaukee.  Data on a total of 168 census tracts in Milwaukee (Part 1) during the calendar year 2003 were obtained from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.  NeighborhoodInfo DC was the lead reentry mapping network partner in Washington, DC.  Data on a total of 7,286 ex-offenders in Washington, DC (Part 2) during the calendar year 2004 were obtained from the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) for the District of Columbia.  The Winston-Salem Reentry Mapping Network project was managed by the Center for Community Safety (CCS), a public service and research center of Winston-Salem State University. Data on a total of 2,896 ex-offenders in Forsyth County (Part 3) during the calendar year 2003 were obtained from the North Carolina Department of Corrections (DOC), the Forsyth County Sheriff's Department (Forsyth County Detention Center [FCDC]), and the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (DJJDP).  The Milwaukee, Wisconsin Data (Part 1) contain a total of 95 variables including race, ethnicity, gender, marital status, education, job status, dependents, general risk assessment, alcohol risk, drug risk, need for alcohol treatment, and need for drug treatment. Also included are four geographic variables. The Washington, DC Data (Part 2) contain a total of 13 variables including supervision type, whether supervision began in calendar year 2004, date supervision period began, date supervision period ended, sex, marital status, ethnicity, age, education, unemployment status, state, and Census tract. The Winston-Salem, North Carolina Data (Part 3) contain a total of 14 variables including race, sex, primary offense, admittance date, date pardoned, street, city, state, status, jurisdiction, and age at admission.

Tags: communities, computer-aided-mapping, crime-mapping, environment, ex-offenders, inmate-release-plans, mapping, prisoner-reentry, trend-analysis
Organization: Department of Justice
Evaluating the Impact of a Specialized Domestic Violence  Police Unit in Charlotte, North Carolina, 2003-2005

The specific goals of this project were (1) to assess the selection criteria used to determine the domestic violence cases for intensive intervention: what criteria are used, and what differentiates how cases are handled, (2) to track the outcomes through Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD), Mecklenburg domestic violence court, and the Mecklenburg jail for the different methods of dealing with the cases, and (3) to provide an assessment of the relative effectiveness of a specialized domestic violence unit vis-a-vis normal patrol unit responses in terms of repeat calls, court processing, victim harm, and repeat arrests. The population from which the sample was selected consisted of all police complaint numbers for cases involving domestic violence (DV) in 2003. The unit of analysis was therefore the domestic violence incident. Cases were selected using a randomized stratified sample (stratifying by month) that also triple-sampled DV Unit cases, which generated 255 DV Unit cases for inclusion. The final sample therefore consists of 891 domestic violence cases, each involving one victim and one suspect. Within this final sample of cases, 25 percent were processed by the DV Unit. The data file contains data from multiple sources. Included from the police department's computerized database (KBCOPS) are variables pertaining to the nature of the crime, victim information and suspect information such as suspect and victim demographic data, victim/offender relationship, highest offense category, weapon usage, victim injury, and case disposition status. From police narratives come such variables as victim/offender relationship, weapon use (more refined than what is included in KBCOPS data), victim injury (also a more refined measure), and evidence collected. Variables from tracking data include information regarding the nature of the offense, the level/type of harm inflicted, and if the assault involved the same victim in the sample. Variables such as amount of jail time a suspect may have had, information pertaining to the court charges (as opposed to the charges at arrest) and case disposition status are included from court and jail data.

Tags: abuse, court-cases, courts, domestic-violence, evidence, intimate-partner-violence, spouse-abuse, victimization, victims, violence-against-women
Organization: Department of Justice
Law Enforcement Response to Human Trafficking and the Implications for Victims in the United States, 2005

The purpose of the study was to explore how local law enforcement were responding to the crime of human trafficking after the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000. The first phase of the study (Part 1, Law Enforcement Interview Quantitative Data) involved conducting telephone surveys with 121 federal, state, and local law enforcement officials in key cities across the country between August and November of 2005. Different versions of the telephone survey were created for the key categories of law enforcement targeted by this study (state/local investigators, police offices, victim witness coordinators, and federal agents). The telephone surveys were supplemented with interviews from law enforcement supervisors/managers, representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Human Trafficking/Smuggling Office, the United States Attorney's Office, the Trafficking in Persons Office, and the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. Respondents were asked about their history of working human trafficking cases, knowledge of human trafficking, and familiarity with the TVPA. Other variables include the type of trafficking victims encountered, how human trafficking cases were identified, and the law enforcement agency's capability to address the issue of trafficking. The respondents were also asked about the challenges and barriers to investigating human trafficking cases and to providing services to the victims. In the second phase of the study (Part 2, Case File Review Qualitative Data) researchers collected comprehensive case information from sources such as case reports, sanitized court reports, legal newspapers, magazines, and newsletters, as well as law review articles. This case review examined nine prosecuted cases of human trafficking since the passage of the TVPA. The research team conducted an assessment of each case focusing on four core components: identifying the facts, defining the problem, identifying the rule to the facts (e.g., in light of the rule, how law enforcement approached the situation), and conclusion.

Tags: exploitation, human-rights, human-trafficking, indentured-servants, law-enforcement, sex-trafficking, slavery
Organization: Department of Justice
Examination of Actuarial Offender-Based Prediction Assessments in Texas, 1993-1996

The purpose of this study was to provide a comprehensive assessment of the usefulness and effectiveness of prediction and classification of offenders under community supervision. A felony cohort data collection instrument was developed to test the validity of the Wisconsin Risk and Need Instrument in use in Texas, as well as to develop "better" predictor variables for a variety of dependent variables. Using the felony cohort data instrument, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Community Justice Assistance Division (TDCJ-CJAD) collected detailed statewide information on 3,405 felony offenders placed on probation in Texas during October 1993. Specifically, the form was completed by a probation officer on all felony probation intakes at the time the initial case classification risk/needs assessment was conducted. Additionally, follow-up forms were developed and administered to track the offenders' progress at one year, two years, and three years. Variables include probationer information, current offense, criminal history, social history, substance abuse, probation sanctions, case classification risk items, and case classification need items. Additional variables include felony cohort one-year follow-up data form questions, felony cohort second-year follow-up data form questions, and felony cohort third-year follow-up data form questions.

Tags: alternatives-to-institutionalization, correctional-classification, crime-prediction, criminality-prediction, evaluation, inmate-release-plans, offender-classification, offender-profiles, offenders, parole, parole-boards, parole-services, parolees, probati
Organization: Department of Justice
Outcome Evaluation of the Comprehensive Indian Resources for Community and Law Enforcement (CIRCLE) Project With Data From Nine Tribes in the United States, 1995-2004

The data for this study were collected in Phase 2, the outcome evaluation, of the Comprehensive Indian Resources for Community and Law Enforcement (CIRCLE) Project. The CIRCLE Project was launched in the late 1990s to strengthen tribal justice systems and, through effective tribal-level planning and strategic comprehensive approaches, to better equip Native American nations to combat the interlinked community problems of crime, violence, substance abuse, and juvenile delinquency. The Native American nations invited to participate in the CIRCLE Project were the Northern Cheyenne, the Ogling Sioux, and the Zuni. Part 1, Participant Data, contains data on each of the Native American nations. The Northern Cheyenne data include variables on juvenile arrests between 1995 and 2003 for intoxication, curfew violations, disorderly conduct, and total arrests. The Oglala Sioux data include variables on police force stability and court pleadings. The Zuni data include variables on arrests for simple assault, public intoxication, driving while intoxicated (DWI), endangerment, domestic violence, and total arrests between 2001 and 2004. Part 2, United States Department of Justice Funding Data, contains data on funding given to the Northern Cheyenne, the Oglala Sioux, the Zuni, and six comparison Native American nations for fiscal years 1998 to 2003.

Tags: causes-of-crime, crime-control-policies, crime-control-programs, juvenile-justice, native-americans, outcome-evaluation, social-issues, violent-crime
Organization: Department of Justice
Performance Measures in Prosecution and Their Application to Community Prosecution at Two Sites in the United States, 2005-2006

The purpose of this study was to explore empirical evidence to support the performance measurement framework identified by the American Prosecutors Research Institute's (APRI) Prosecution Study for the 21st Century. The framework included promoting the fair, impartial, and expeditious pursuit of justice and ensuring public safety. Two prosecutors' offices participated in the study. One was a traditional office, and the other was a more community-oriented office. Each site submitted monthly data on the identified performance measures for analysis. APRI also designed and administered a public safety survey to assess a number of factors related to the performance of prosecutors' offices, but for which data could not be provided by the offices. The public safety surveys were administered by phone using random digit dialing (RDD). Part 1, Site 1 Administrative Data, contains 15 months of data, and Part 2, Site 2 Administrative Data, contain 6 months of data on the identified performance measures for analysis from each site. Part 3, Public Safety Survey Data, contains variables that provide some basic demographic data about the respondents and several variables in response to Likert-style questions measuring attitudes and opinions on six factors. These include the seriousness of local crime, safety of the environment, organizational behavior of the prosecutor's office, participation in the community, community education, and task performance.

Tags: arrests, case-dismissal, case-processing, convictions-law, disposition-legal, fear-of-crime, justice, performance, plea-negotiations, pleas, prosecution, public-safety, sentencing
Organization: Department of Justice
Understanding Court Culture and Improving Court Performance in 12 Courts in California, Florida, and Minnesota, 2002

The purpose of this study was to examine the organizational culture in 12 felony criminal trial courts selected in 3 states and to gauge prosecuting and public defender attorneys' views on how well the courts in which they practice achieve the goals of access, fairness, and managerial effectiveness. Data on organizational culture in each of the 12 courts (Part 1) were obtained by administering the Court Culture Assessment Instrument (CCAI) to all judges with a felony criminal court docket and to all senior court administrators. A total of 224 respondents completed the questionnaire. Additionally, surveys were conducted of prosecuting attorneys (Part 2) and public defender attorneys (Part 3) to gauge their views on how well the courts in which they practice achieve the goals of access, fairness, and managerial effectiveness. A total of 334 prosecuting attorneys and 260 public defense attorneys completed the 46-item trial court process survey. Part 1 contains 40 variables pertaining to 5 dimensions of current and preferred court culture. Variables in Part 2 and Part 3 each include seven items from a jurisdictional practice scale, eight items from a procedural fairness scale, seven items from a resource scale, nine items from a management scale, nine items from a practitioner competence scale, and six items from a court access scale.

Tags: administration, administrators, attorneys, case-management, case-processing, court-cases, court-system, courts, criminal-courts, felony-courts, judges, management-styles, organizational-behavior, organizational-culture, organizational-structure, prosecuti
Organization: Department of Justice
Training School Resource Officers to Improve School Climate and Student Safety Outcomes, Arizona, 2015-2017

This study is an experimental investigation of the effectiveness of integrating School Resource Officers (SROs) into multi-disciplinary teams in reducing risk behaviors in students, specifically the average number of disciplinary incidents over the course of three years (2015-2017). The authors focus on the following research questions:

Do schools with SROs demonstrate significantly greater declines in student disciplinary incidents than schools with no SROs?
Do schools with SROs who receive the enhanced training (intervention) show greater declines in student disciplinary incidents than schools whose SROs receive only the standard training?
Do the answers to questions 1-2 vary by sub-populations in the schools such as students from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds, gender, and socioeconomic status?


Tags: law-enforcement, mental-health-services, outcome-evaluation, school-security, student-misconduct, training
Organization: Department of Justice
Mandatory Custody Mediation in San Diego, California, 1996

The purpose of the study was to provide empirical data to inform the debate and lead to meaningful answers to questions in custody mediation and domestic violence including equity of outcomes for families with partner violence versus those without any evidence of violence, and the issue of health and safety outcomes for the children. Researchers examined every seventh action filed in the Family Court in San Diego during the calendar year 1996. Each of the 512 nonagreement mediation reports and its associated Court Screening Form were scanned in its entirety and subsequently printed. Each report also contained an appended page, containing a detailed parenting plan in which the mediator summarized the percentage of physical custody recommended for each parent. Each report was studied and content analyzed by three trained raters who had no access to the Court Screening Form and so were blind to any a prior domestic violence allegations. The majority of coding items called for yes/no responses. Other coding items allowed the raters to choose from among more than two options. A variable was coded in a particular direction if all three raters agreed or if two of the three raters agreed. The domestic violence sample (n = 200) included all of the selected cases with domestic violence indicators on the current screening form, prior allegation of domestic violence on a court screening form and/or a permanent domestic violence restraining order in the case file that was available to the mediator, and clear cases of domestic violence as documented by the mediator in which there was absolutely no indication of domestic violence on any screening form or in the case file. The nondomestic violence sample (n = 200) included 200 of the remaining 312 cases that had no indicators of domestic violence in the file and no mention of domestic violence in the mediation report. The data includes five categories of variables: general case information, parental factors, child factors, family interaction factors, and current parental relationship.

Tags: child-abuse, child-custody, child-custody-hearings, divorce, domestic-violence, family-courts, family-violence, mediation, violence-against-women
Organization: Department of Justice