Courts Commons^™

Victim Impact: The Manson Murders And The Rise Of The Victims’ Rights Movement, Merrill W. Steeg

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Judicial Elections, Public Opinion, And Their Impact On State Criminal Justice Policy, Travis N. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

This dissertation explores whether and how the re-election prospects faced by trial court judges in many American states influence criminal justice policy, specifically, state levels of incarceration, as well as the disparity in rates of incarceration for Whites and Blacks. Do states where trial court judges must worry about facing reelection tend to encourage judicial behavior that results in higher incarceration rates? And are levels of incarceration and racial disparities in the states influenced by the proportion of the state publics who want more punitive policies? These are clearly important questions because they speak directly to several normative and empirical …

A Venue To Grow: Researching Professional Growth In The Collaborative Courts Of The Northern District Of California, Wyatt Lim-Tepper

Master's Projects and Capstones

This study examines the professional growth of collaborative court staff in the Northern District of California (NDCA). First, it sets forth a background that reviews the history of collaborative courts and details the development, purpose and structure, and current processes at the federal level. Second, the researcher describes the framework of the NDCA as an institution and further identifies the stakeholders who participate in the NDCA’s two collaborative courts: the Reentry Court and the Conviction Alternatives Program (CAP). Third, the study reviews the literature on professional growth in the legal field, education and academia, and public-health fields. Fourth, this paper …

Social Work Students’ Attitudes And Beliefs About Mental Health Courts, Nicholas Bettosini, Conrad Paul Akins-Johnson

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Mental Health Courts (MHCs) are a diversion program for mentally ill offenders in lieu of incarceration. The Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration (SAMHSA) developed these specialized court programs in the 1990’s to assist mentally ill offenders in overcoming barriers to treatment. While new laws have begun to change the way mentally ill offenders are viewed from a law enforcement standpoint, social workers’ attitudes and beliefs about these programs have not been studied. This quantitative study’s purpose was to examine Master of Social Work (MSW) Graduate students’ attitudes and beliefs of mentally ill offenders and MHCs. Social work student participants …

In The Wake Of Broken Windows Policing How Aggressive Policing Contributed To East Harlem Residents Distrust Of Police, Stephanie Daniel, Nicole Lewis, Kalalea Kalalea

Capstones

In 2015, the East Harlem neighborhood – specifically the 25th Precinct – had the highest rate of criminal court summonses amongst residential areas. At 145 summonses for every 1,000 residents, it was more than four times the citywide average, according to an analysis of data obtained from the NYPD.

Since 2010, summonses have declined as the NYPD moves towards a more community-based approach to policing. But the Broken Windows theory has left a lasting and often negative effect on the East Harlem community.

This past fall, CUNY reporters investigated how summonses have affected the relationship between East Harlem residents and …

The One Exhibition The Roots Of The Lgbt Equality Movement One Magazine & The First Gay Supreme Court Case In U.S. History 1943-1958, Joshua R. Edmundson

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The ONE Exhibition explores an era in American history marked by intense government sponsored anti-gay persecution and the genesis of the LGBT equality movement. The study begins during World War II, continues through the McCarthy era and the founding of the nation’s first gay magazine, and ends in 1958 with the first gay Supreme Court case in U.S. history.

Central to the story is ONE The Homosexual Magazine, and its founders, as they embarked on a quest for LGBT equality by establishing the first ongoing nationwide forum for gay people in the U.S., and challenged the government’s right to engage …

Who We Are: Incarcerated Students And The New Prison Literature, 1995-2010, Reilly Hannah N. Lorastein

Honors Projects

This project focuses on American prison writings from the late 1990s to the 2000s. Much has been written about American prison intellectuals such as Malcolm X, George Jackson, Eldridge Cleaver, and Angela Davis, who wrote as active participants in black and brown freedom movements in the United States. However the new prison literature that has emerged over the past two decades through higher education programs within prisons has received little to no attention. This study provides a more nuanced view of the steadily growing silent population in the United States through close readings of Openline, an inter-disciplinary journal featuring …

Veterans Court: Towards The Implementation Of A Collaborative Justice Model In San Luis Obispo County, Daniel Smee

Continuing Education (CAPSTONE)

Veterans’ treatment courts represent an emerging trend across the country of collaborative justice designed to deal with criminal justice issues stemming from problems linked to military service. This approach places the veteran in VA (Veterans Affairs) treatment programs as a diversion from incarceration. There are few such courts in California (nine) largely in non-rural counties. This study investigated two rural counties, Tulare and Santa Barbara with Veterans courts to develop a model for such a court in San Luis Obispo County. Early recidivism data at the one-year point for Tulare County showed a zero percent rate of criminal behavior (12 …

Predictors Of Pre-Dispositional Juvenile Detention: Race Gender And Intersectionality, Jennifer Lee Gebler

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This research examines disproportionate minority contact (DMC) in a court service unit (CSU) in Virginia which has been implementing the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) program since 2005. Using three years of intake data, the study also explores the impact of race and gender on the likelihood of receiving pre-dispositional secure detention. Finally, using intersectionality theory, the study analyzes the joint impact of being non-white and female on the pre-dispositional detention outcome. In this CSU, non-whites were found to be overrepresented in secure detention indicating the presence of DMC. In the multivariate model, race was not found to be a …

Sex, Drug Courts, And Recidivism, Doria Nour Dandan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Research studies have identified gender differences in the drug abusing patterns and treatment needs of men and women. Even so, studies on the drug court model have not assessed drug court effectiveness across sex. Using secondary data collected from the Ada County Drug Court, the recidivism rates of drug court participants (n=259) and probationers (n=235) were analyzed. Drug court participants were found to be less likely to recidivate compared to probationers, which supports previous research on drug court effectiveness. Regression analyses failed to find an interaction between group membership and sex, thereby indicating that the effect of the drug court …

Boys Will Be Boys: A Social Control Approach To Assessment Of Gender-Based Sentencing Disparity In Norfolk Circuit Court Cases, Fay F. Spence

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study evaluated the relationship between gender and sentencing severity for defendants convicted of violent crimes, victimless crimes, and theft crimes in Norfolk Circuit Court during 2001 and 2002. Based upon social control theories, the author hypothesized that women receive harsher penalties than men for violent crimes and victimless crimes, but that men receive harsher penalties for theft crimes. To test these hypotheses, the author relied, in part, upon data collected by the Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney's office on 3368 criminal cases filed in 2001 and concluded by May 22, 2002. After eliminating cases not pertinent to the study, the data …

Crossing The Line: Juvenile Transfer And Prison Violence, Jessica M. Huffman

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The juvenile court has long held caring and rehabilitation as it's objective for those persons who commit crimes while under age 18. However, arguably, that goal has been compromised with the use of juvenile transfers. Some research has been done on the use of transfers, but little has studied the effects of incarcerating juveniles with adult prisoners at the state level. This thesis examines the use of the juvenile transfer and the effects it has with respect to prison violence using states in the U.S. as the unit of analysis. It was hypothesized that prison violence would increase with an …

Bailing Out Of Bonds: The Effect Of Victim/Offender Relationships And Other Factors In The Setting Of Bail, Tancy Vandecar

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate which factors impact bail decisions made by magistrates and judges. Much of the research on this topic was done in the early 1960s and 1970s when efforts such as the Manhattan Bail Project were in full force and the decisions of magistrates had not been investigated. There has been little research which looks specifically at the effect of victim-offender relationship on the bail decision. The present research utilizes bail decisions made by judges in the General District Court of Virginia Beach, Virginia as well as Virginia Beach magistrates. The effects of offense …