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Research

One of the most challenging areas for judges is integrating the use of data, statistics, and logic models in system change. In addition to analyzing data, simply identifying what sort of research is credible and usable can be a difficult task. In this section, judges can find practical and understandable resources on research and data, as well as explanations to common research related questions.

Documents

  • Opens in new windowBuilding the Research Base: An Evaluation Blueprint for Community Courts

    Community courts offer a localized, flexible approach to addressing crime and disorder. The model’s inherent adaptability, however, has also made community courts more difficult to evaluate than other, more standardized models. To promote a more robust research base and to help develop an evidence-based framework for the model, this paper sets forth a blueprint to guide future community court evaluations.

Links

  • Opens in new windowCenter for Justice Innovation Research

    Research drives our approach to justice reform. Social scientists across three distinct teams use evidence to inform policy and practice.

  • Opens in new windowCommunity Court Research: A Literature Review

    Nationally, there are 27 community courts in operation across the United States. The first community court opened in midtown Manhattan in 1993. Focusing on quality-of-life offenses (drug possession, shoplifting, vandalism, prostitution, and the like), the Midtown Community Court combined punishment and help, sentencing low-level offenders to perform visible community restitution and receive on-site social services, including drug treatment, counseling, and job training. The community courts that have followed in the Midtown Court’s wake seek to achieve many goals, such as reduced crime, increased engagement between citizens and the courts, improved perceptions of neighborhood safety, and a greater level of accountability for low-level, "quality-of-life" offenders.

  • Opens in new windowNevada District Court, Family Division Assessment Released

    Conducted between January and August of this year by the National Center for Juvenile Justice, the research division of the Nevada-based National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), the assessment re-examines the court operation model the Nevada legislature adopted in 1993 for judicial districts serving total populations of more than 100,000. Coordinated family divisions were subsequently implemented in the Second Judicial District Court (Washoe County) and the Eighth Judicial District Court (Clark County).