Digital Commons Network^™

“He’S In Jail Now And I Don’T Feel Bad”: Analyzing Sureties’ Decisions To Report Bail Violations, Rachel Schumann, Carolyn Yule

International Journal on Responsibility

The control, supervision, and rehabilitation of criminalized people often falls on the shoulders of non-state agents and organizations. Surety bail releases are a clear embodiment of this trend, as the courts call upon relatives, friends, and employers to supervise the pre-conviction activity of people accused of a crime. According to the law, sureties must report all bail violations to the police; the resulting diffusion of responsibility is said to increase the penal state’s power and control over criminal justice-involved individuals while minimizing reputational risks. Yet how sureties carry out this role in the community remains unexplored. Using data from 36 …

Ua12/8 2024 Annual Campus Safety & Security Report For The Calendar 2023 Calendar Year, Wku Police

WKU Administration Documents

Annual WKU campus security report for 2023.

Building Community Capacity To Combat The Overdose Crisis With Data, Sean P. Varano, Pamela Kelley, Marc Duphily, Victoria Butler, Hannah Panteleos

Justice Studies Faculty Publications

Plymouth County is located in southeastern Massachusetts, between Boston and Cape Cod. The county has more than 500,000 residents and is made up of a diverse array of 27 communities, ranging from small affluent New England towns to urban impoverished commercial areas. Originally conceived as a post-overdose crisis response program, the Plymouth County Outreach (PCO) has expanded far beyond its initial conceptualization to become a more comprehensive countywide recovery support and harm reduction initiative.

Embedded Researchers In Community Collaborations: Making Data Matter In Addressing The Overdose Crisis In Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Sean P. Varano, Pamela Kelley

Justice Studies Faculty Publications

This article is a story about privilege. The recognition that as an academic, it is a privilege to have a seat at the policymaking table. It is a privilege to be heard, to be valued, and to contribute in ways that impact the lives of real people, in real communities, related to real problems. Researchers who’ve had the opportunity to participate in community-based collaborations know well that such partnerships are built on trust, patience, commitment, and thick skin (Drawbridge, Taheri, & Frost, 2018). When someone allows us in the door it can come with perceived risk. They sometimes open their …

Boiling Behind Bars: Exploring The Hidden Toll Of Extreme Heat On Mental Health In Texas Prisons, Sandra K. Miller

Social Work Theses - Archive

The State of Texas supports the largest prison system in the US and held 132,859 people in 100 units scattered across the state as of December 2023. Approximately 70% of Texas prison beds are not air conditioned, despite the state’s reputation for dangerously hot, humid summers. The State has officially recorded temperatures inside Texas prison facilities as high as 120 degrees with heat index values of over 150. Although there is a growing body of research on the negative physiological and psychological consequences of extreme heat among the general public, little is known about the physical and emotional toll of …

A Little Bird Told Me: The Lived Experiences Of Officers Who Participated In Deep Undercover Programs, Oakley Fungaroli

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This study used interpretative phenomenological analysis to gather and analyze semi-structured interviews of seven participants who took part in deep undercover programs between the 1970s and 1990s. In the early 1980s, under pressure from civil rights advocates, law enforcement implemented policies restricting the use of undercover police officers in non-violent intelligence investigations. The new guidelines resulted in robust selection and training requirements for deep undercover assignments which became focused on those who advocated criminal acts in furtherance of social or political objectives. The lived experiences revealed that while intelligence guidelines intended to protect civil rights applied to all personnel, training …

Police Flight Oversight: Lapd Drone As First Responder Implementation, Nathaniel Worley

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the feasibility of implementing a Drone as First Responder (DFR) program within the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), analyzing the operational, social, and financial implications compared to traditional police helicopter usage. The thesis investigates helicopter flight patterns, demographic correlations, and the potential for drones to provide a less invasive and more cost-effective aerial support system. Key findings include the use of incorrect identifying hex codes by LAPD helicopters, suggesting potential transparency issues in aerial operations. The thesis recommends DFR due to substantial cost savings and enhanced surveillance transparency and asserts that a DFR program can mitigate negative …

Redefining Rehabilitation: Evaluating The Washtenaw County Pre-Plea Diversion Program, William Ellsworth

CMC Senior Theses

The Washtenaw County (MI) Prosecutor’s Office’s Pre-Plea Diversion Program (PPDP) aims to divert eligible misdemeanor defendants from the criminal justice system, offering rehabilitative programming to reduce reoffending and minimize the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction with case dismissal. This research assessed whether PPDP participants were less likely to be re-arrested in the six months following program completion compared to a sample of defendants facing similar charges within the same court. It was hypothesized that the PPDP would effectively reduce re-arrest, with community service and mental health counseling proving particularly impactful. Employing a quasi-experimental design, data from 90 successfully diverted …

Nebraska Department Of Correctional Services Classification And Crowding Project Technical Report, Zachary Hamilton, Alex Kigerl, Baylee Allen-Flores, Addison Kobie, John Ursino, Amber Krushas, Brian Gildea, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

In response to recent reports and noted issues of prison crowding, NDCS (Nebraska Department of Correctional Services) contracted with NCJR (Nebraska Center for Justice Research) to investigate the impacts of crowding. Going beyond the CSG, CJI, and Master Plan reports (Council of State Governments, 2015; Criminal Justice Institute, 2022; Dewberry, 2023; JFA, 2020), NDCS requested NCJR identify which facilities and populations are impacted greatest via crowding. Further, findings provide areas of recommended changes needed to ease growth and help maintain safety and functionality of NDCS institutions. As part of Phase I, we completed a process evaluation, which included a review …

The Right To A Glass Box: Rethinking The Use Of Artificial Intelligence In Criminal Justice, Brandon L. Garrett, Cynthia Rudin

Faculty Scholarship

Artificial intelligence (“AI”) increasingly is used to make important decisions that affect individuals and society. As governments and corporations use AI more pervasively, one of the most troubling trends is that developers so often design it to be a “black box.” Designers create AI models too complex for people to understand or they conceal how AI functions. Policymakers and the public increasingly sound alarms about black box AI. A particularly pressing area of concern has been criminal cases, in which a person’s life, liberty, and public safety can be at stake. In the United States and globally, despite concerns that …

Liberty, Safety, And Misdemeanor Bail, Brandon L. Garrett, Sandra Guerra Thompson, Dottie Carmichael, David Shi, Songman Kang

Faculty Scholarship

The highest volume of cases in the U.S. criminal system are misdemeanors, and every day, hundreds of thousands of people are detained pretrial in such low-level cases. In policy and in politics, pretrial rules have swung between a focus on protecting constitutional rights and the public safety dangers posed by releasing arrestees. The Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v. Salerno sought to promote a balance between protecting individual due process rights and public safety interests. A central constitutional and pressing policy question is what trade-off exists between pretrial liberty and reoffending. The highest profile jurisdiction to examine that question …

Evaluating Pre-Trial Programs Using Interpretable Machine Learning Matching Algorithms For Causal Inference, Travis Seale-Carlisle, Saksham Jain, Courtney Lee, Caroline Levenson, Swathi Ramprasad, Brandon Garrett, Sudeepa Roy, Cynthia Rudin, Alexander Volfovsky

Faculty Scholarship

After a person is arrested and charged with a crime, they may be released on bail and required to participate in a community supervision program while awaiting trial. These ‘pretrial programs’ are common throughout the United States, but very little research has demonstrated their effectiveness. Researchers have emphasized the need for more rigorous program evaluation methods, which we introduce in this article. We describe a program evaluation pipeline that uses recent interpretable machine learning techniques for observational causal inference, and demonstrate these techniques in a study of a pre-trial program in Durham, North Carolina. Our findings show no evidence that …

Judging Firearms Evidence, Brandon L. Garrett, Eric Tucker, Nicholas Scurich

Faculty Scholarship

Firearms violence results in hundreds of thousands of criminal investigations each year. To try to identify a culprit, firearms examiners seek to link fired shell casings or bullets from crime scene evidence to a particular firearm. The underlying assumption is that firearms impart unique marks on bullets and cartridge cases, and that trained examiners can identify these marks to determine which were fired by the same gun. For over a hundred years, firearms examiners have testified that they can conclusively identify the source of a bullet or cartridge case. In recent years, however, research scientists have called into question the …

Police Diversity Theory, Trevor George Gardner

Scholarship@WashULaw

In light of both the tragic death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis at the hands of Black police officers and the mixed results of studies of Black same-race policing, this Article proposes a conceptual framework by which to better understand the utility of police diversity. The framework maps the relational possibilities among three factors: (i) the Black officer’s approach to same-race policing; (ii) the Black officer’s performance in the context of same-race policing; and (iii) the policing priorities of the Black communities the Black officer is taken to represent.

Responsive to the conceptual framework for police diversity theory, the Article …

The False Promise Of Jurisdiction Stripping, Daniel Epps, Alan M. Trammell

Scholarship@WashULaw

Jurisdiction stripping is seen as a nuclear option. Its logic is simple: by depriving federal courts of jurisdiction over some set of cases, Congress ensures those courts cannot render bad decisions. In theory, it frees up the political branches and the states to act without fear of judicial second-guessing. To its proponents, it offers the ultimate check on unelected and unaccountable judges. To critics, it poses a grave threat to the separation of powers. Both sides agree, though, that jurisdiction stripping is a powerful weapon. On this understanding, politicians, activists, and scholars throughout American history have proposed jurisdiction stripping measures …

The Major Questions Doctrine: Unfounded, Unbounded, And Confounded, Ronald M. Levin

Scholarship@WashULaw

As explicated by the Supreme Court in West Virginia v. EPA in 2022, and reaffirmed in Biden v. Nebraska in 2023, the “major questions doctrine” provides that an administrative agency’s rule in a “major” case must rest on “clear congressional authorization.” Many commentators have deplored the major questions doctrine on the basis of its policy consequences. This Article offers a critique of the doctrine from a different angle. It primarily contends that the reasons the Court has given for enforcing the doctrine do not withstand scrutiny, even on their own terms.

In West Virginia and Nebraska, the Court relied heavily …

Exploring Mental Health Stigma Among Law Enforcement Officers, Nicholas David Chestnut

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation investigates the prevalence and impact of mental health stigma among law enforcement officers (LEOs) in the United States. Despite growing awareness of the importance of mental health in the law enforcement community, stigma surrounding mental illness remains a significant barrier to help-seeking behaviors among officers. The study employed a research design that examined attitudes, perceptions, and experiences related to mental health stigma among LEOs.

Through online self-assessment surveys administered via a secure portal, participants provided insights into their attitudes toward mental illness, perceptions of stigma, and willingness to seek help for mental health concerns.

Data analysis revealed …

Recidivism Outcomes For Young People Who Have Committed A Sexual Offence And Received Treatment: A Systematic Narrative Review Of Studies Conducted In Australia And New Zealand, James L. Finney, Natalie Gately, Suzanne Rock

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Young people who have committed a sexual offence present unique and serious challenges to the criminal justice systems of Australia and New Zealand. To understand the current state of existing literature, we systematically collated and critically appraised studies using narrative synthesis, examining the recidivism outcomes of young people who have committed a sexual offence and received treatment. Eight studies were identified utilising a sample of 1528 young people. Recidivism was higher among participants who did not complete treatment, compared to those who completed treatment, but highest in those who commenced but subsequently “dropped out”. Our findings highlight a need for …

Examining Digital Hostility Against Black Women: A Thematic Analysis Of The Black Manosphere On Twitter, Nekea Sanders

Theses and Dissertations

The Manosphere is a collective of powerfully influential men who create and control harmful narratives about women online. Individuals within the Manosphere are disseminating their beliefs and garnering support through various online platforms, including social media. This research study sheds light on the Black Manosphere, a group within the Manosphere that has gone under the radar, despite the detrimental and toxic content they publish online about Black women. This qualitative research study examined the hostile rhetoric published by the Black Manosphere on Twitter (now X) about Black women. The research questions guiding this qualitative examination were: (1) What types and …

Do Judges Understand Technology? How Attorneys And Advocates View Judicial Responsibility In Cyberstalking And Cyberharassment Cases, Kateryna Kaplun

International Journal on Responsibility

As new technologies emerge and are increasingly used to commit interpersonal cybercrimes like cyberstalking and cyberharassment, the legal system lags in assisting victims in obtaining justice in these types of experiences. This qualitative research study explores how attorney and advocate interviewees from Illinois, New Jersey, and New York view judges’ responsibility to the law in cyberstalking and cyberharassment cases. This study finds three themes: judges’ lack of understanding of technology and its harms, discretion, and law on the books versus law in action as important factors and frameworks that contribute to why judges do not consider the importance of technology …

Understanding Lived Experiences Of Correctional Officers' Reintegration Back Into The Work Environment Post-Assault, Claudette Duggins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The researcher explored the experiences of correctional officers assaulted by inmates, focusing on the impact of such assaults on their reintegration into the work environment. The researcher sought to understand how these experiences affect officers' attitudes, behaviors, and decision-making, which could impact the safety and security of the institution and the public. A qualitative approach using a phenomenological research design was employed to understand the lived experiences of assaulted correctional officers. Data emerged through participant interactions, capturing their personal experiences and perspectives. The qualitative method was chosen over a quantitative approach as it allowed for an in-depth understanding of the …

Aspirations Of Hispanic Criminal Justice Students To Join Law Enforcement: An Empirical Investigation, Yudu Li, Lucas Espinoza, Charlotte Hu, Fei Luo

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This study investigates the job preferences of criminal justice (CJ) students and potential factors that may impact their application for law enforcement positions. Existing research has shown that factors like gender, race, and class standing influence career choices among CJ majors. To contribute to this body of knowledge, this study focuses on CJ students’ attitudes toward the police and willingness to engage in community policing programs. The research examined 231 CJ students in a Hispanic serving university situated along the US-Mexican border. Research findings indicate that CJ students are less likely to pursue law enforcement careers if they hold less …

An Analysis Of The Impact And Effectiveness Of Human Trafficking State Laws And Policies In Missouri And Nebraska, Madeleine Mather

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Human trafficking is the use of force, fraud, or coercion to use another person for sex or labor. Human trafficking is a prevalent issue within the United States that is not talked about enough. This leads to a misrepresentation of facts about human trafficking that can lead to common myths related to human trafficking. It is each state’s responsibility to develop laws and policies that protect victims and prosecute offenders justly according to the crime. This research delves into an analysis of Missouri and Nebraska state statutes to determine their effectiveness and assess the level of awareness among residents of …

A Comparison Between A Terrorist Leader And A Lone-Wolf Operative In Bangladesh, Fatema Islam

Journal of Terrorism Studies

The article compares the biography and terrorist portrait of two terrorists of Bangladesh: Mufti Abdul Hannan, a pioneer leader of the prominent terrorist organization Huji-B, and a lone wolf operative named Faizul Hasan. The study reveals the existence of the multifaceted dynamics of the leader (Mufti) and lone wolf (Faizul) encompassing organizational affiliation, operational independence, radicalization processes, motivations, objectives, and the scale of their operations. The study also finds that the pattern of operation of a terrorist leader (Mufti) and the lone wolf terrorist (Faizul) differed significantly in terms of planning, execution, and level of organizational support. While the terrorist …

The Curious Tension Between Fish And Game Conservation Officers And The Fourth Amendment, Thomas White

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Based on principles of federalism, states as well as the federal government address the powers and duties of fish and wildlife conservation officers (hereafter referred to generally as “conservation officers”) in a variety of ways, a significant number of which appear to have Fourth Amendment ramifications. Many states require their conservation officers to have probable cause, with or without a search warrant, to engage in search activity. Since this is the standard employed for reviewing the reasonableness of the actions of ordinary law enforcement officers, these states’ legal requirements for searching hunters and anglers do not implicate Fourth Amendment concerns. …

Who Owns Children’S Dna?, Nila Bala

Michigan Law Review

In recent years, DNA has become increasingly easy to collect, test, and sequence, making it far more accessible to law enforcement. While legal scholars have examined this phenomenon generally, this Article examines the control and use of children’s DNA, asking who ultimately owns children’s DNA. I explore two common ways parents—currently considered “owners” of children’s DNA— might turn over children’s DNA to law enforcement: (1) “consensual” searches and (2) direct-to-consumer testing. My fundamental thesis is that parental consent is an insufficient safeguard to protect a child’s DNA from law enforcement. At present, the law leaves parents in complete control of …

The Connection Between Correlational Control Rate And Successful Probation Discharge Rates In The United States, Myron Syvelle Hopes

Dissertations (2016-Present)

This dissertation analyzes the connection between correctional rates and probation rates to find the harshness of a state’s correctional program that evaluates the successful completion of probation. The answer starts with correctional control conversion to a score assigned to each state and compared against their successful probation completion rate. The correctional control rates are the total number of persons within a state’s correctional system and from the Prison Policy Initiative. The study will employ Social Control Theory as the underlying theoretical framework in examining the harshness of correctional control rates as it relates to successful probation outcomes. The data evaluation …

The Contributions Of Mental Health Issues, Traumatic Brain Injury, And Adverse Childhood Experiences To Recidivism Among Rural Jail Incarcerees, Lauren N. Miley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recidivism should be a major concern, particularly for American jails. The Unites States incarcerates 2.3 million people, a number exceeding rates in any other country. Approximately 90% of those individuals will reenter society at some point, and roughly half of those people will ultimately return to jail. This revolving door costs U.S. taxpayers upwards of $39 billion per year, and undermines public safety. Therefore, breaking this cycle of incarceration and recidivism is of utmost concern, and the focus of this dissertation. Mental health problems, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are three potential risk factors for recidivism …

Dna Analysis: The Answer For Unsolved Cases?, Sarah Hetchler

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

DNA analysis has become a crucial part of solving cases. It has developed significantly since its creation in the mid-1980s. The longing for answers within unsolved cases is historically lengthy, leaving traces of distrust and injustice. Criminologists offer a potential solution to the mess created by connecting DNA analysis to protect victims and communities. DNA evidence and analysis can assist in solving cases and provide answers for exonerees. Like public genealogy websites, law enforcement agencies must acknowledge new methods to solve issues. Not only could law enforcement agencies solve and arrest suspects through DNA analysis, but DNA could also provide …

Restrictive Pursuit Policies And Rising Violent Crime, Ryan Kelly

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

Consequences can be a driving factor for why citizens follow laws in the United States. Financial and physical freedom is valued. Citizen’s behavior may change if police officers threaten to take these things away for breaking laws. Policymakers today are working to restrict when law enforcement officers can chase criminals for breaking the law. Suppose the ability of law enforcement to hold criminals accountable is restricted. Would this not lead a reasonable person to believe that criminals may think they are free to commit crimes? This paper will cover current trends in violent crime in both the United States and …