Research

Overview

Research, evaluation, and dissemination play an essential role in the Center for Court Innovation's brand of justice reform. The Center uses a variety of research methodologies to evaluate whether new initiatives are successful or not, to identify areas for improvement and to document lessons for innovators around the world. The Center's research department contains more than a dozen social scientists who perform quantitative and qualitative studies. The Center shares its findings in a variety of formats, from academic publications geared to a research audience to how-to manuals for busy frontline justice system professionals to op-eds intended for the general public. While the means of dissemination may vary, the underlying goal is always the same: to use information to improve the fairness and effectiveness of the justice system.

Below are additional topics of research not covered in the main search list below:

Evaluation 101 | Neighborhood Surveys

Publications

Testing the Cost Savings of Judicial Diversion

By Mark S. Waller, Shannon M. Carey, Erin Farley and Michael Rempel

Rockefeller Drug Law Reform, adopted in April 2009, eliminated mandatory prison sentences in New York State for most felony drug offenders and sought to link more felony-level drug and property offenders to treatment through judicial diversion. This study looked at the impact of judicial diversion, finding that the new law increased court-ordered treatment participation (although precise effects varied widely by county); reduced incarceration and recidivism among those treated; and increased savings.

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Listen to an interview with study co-author Shannon M. Carey

Read a summary of the study

Publications

The Adolescent Diversion Program in New York: A Reform in Progress

By Richard Ross and Alfred Siegel

This paper reviews the lessons learned from nine pilot court sites testing the Adolescent Diversion Program, which brings cases of 16- and 17-year-olds before specially trained judges, who have access to an expanded array of dispositions, including age-appropriate services. The Adolescent Diversion Program was created as a forerunner to proposed legislation that would allow courts to divert cases pre-trial and focus more effectively on the special needs of adolescent defendants.

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Publications

Criminal Justice Interventions for Offenders with Mental Illness: Evaluation of Mental Health Courts in Bronx and Brooklyn, New York

A new evaluation from the Urban Institute documents reductions in recidivism at the Brooklyn Mental Health Court.

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Publications

Procedural Justice From the Bench: How Judges Can Improve the Effectiveness of Criminal Courts

By Greg Berman and Emily Gold

This essay from The Judges' Journal seeks to articulate lessons from drug courts that are applicable in all criminal courts. It includes concrete recommendations for judges on improving courtroom communication.

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Publications

Multi-Site Evaluation Demonstrates Effectiveness of Adult Drug Courts

By Michael Rempel, Janine M. Zweig, Christine H. Lindquist, John K. Roman, Shelli B. Rossman and Dana Kralstein

Funded by the National Institute of Justice, the Multi-Site Adult Drug Court Evaluation is a comprehensive study of outcomes at 23 drug courts and six comparison jurisdictions around the country. The study found that adult drug courts substantially reduce crime and drug use and produce a particularly large return on investment (in terms of both recidivism reductions and cost savings) among offenders who would otherwise be at a high risk of re-offending. This brief article summarizes all major study findings and discusses their policy implications. Published in Judicature.

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