This report presents findings from the first ever randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of judicial monitoring with domestic violence offenders. Overall, the results did not show that judicial monitoring lower recidivism. However, offenders assigned to monitoring were more likely than those not monitored to believe that they understood their obligations, that there would be consequences for noncompliance, and that the consequences would be severe; and such perceptions were associated with increased program compliance.
Across the country, courts utilize compliance calendars in both civil and criminal domestic violence proceedings to ensure that defendants and respondents adhere to court-ordered conditions, including no new arrests, abusive partner intervention or other program mandates, supervised visitation or safe exchange, parenting plans, and child support. This guide outlines best practices to help courts develop or enhance compliance calendars.
The effectiveness of the drug treatment court model has been well-documented in the United States and Canada, and these reports explore applications of the model in Barbados, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago. Each country-specific report explores how key components of the model are adapted and offers recommendations for improvement and/or expansion.
Gary Hinzman shares his thoughts about the challenge of educating the public about how the criminal justice system operates, the danger of so-called “copycat” programs and the need to educate the public about what criminal justice reforms can actually accomplish.
Judge Stephanie L. Rhoades, who helped found and has presided over the Anchorage Mental Health Court since 1998, and Kathi R. Trawver, associate professor of the School of Social Work at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, discuss the court's origins, accomplishments and lessons.
An article that both critically examines the research literature related to each of two goals that are commonly ascribed to court-ordered batterer programs: rehabilitation and offender accountability. The article also considers the prospects for several new directions in sentencing, including judicial monitoring, community service, and heavy fines. The article concludes by recommending that, whether or not courts continue to rely on offender programs, they also seek to incorporate more comprehensive and systematic approaches to offender monitoring and sanctioning for noncompliance.
Domestic violence cases present challenges to probation departments. Supervising and monitoring offenders requires an understanding not only of the dynamics of domestic violence but the crime’s impact on the entire community. For this episode of In Practice, Rob Wolf speaks with James Henderson, a former probation officer and a consultant with the Battered Women's Justice Project, and Aeron Muckala, a corrections agent for the Minnesota Department of Corrections in Bemidji, Minnesota.
Judge John Leventhal has presided over the Brooklyn Felony Domestic Violence Court since its opening in June 1996. Leventhal talked with the Center for Court Innovation’s Carolyn Turgeon about his work.