Search results

Showing 1 – 10 of 10 results.

Curated

American Bar Foundation: State Criminal Court Cases, 1962 (ICPSR 7272)

Released/updated on: 1992-02-16

This study presents data about criminal court cases in the 50 states and District of Columbia in 1962. Variables include state and county of trial, case processing, offense charged, sentence, type of counsel, amount of bail, length of time in jail, and other aspects related to the disposition of the cases. Demographic information on the defendant is provided, such as age group, sex, race, and years of school completed.

Curated

Assessing Local Legal Culture: Practitioner Norms in Four Criminal Courts, 1979 (ICPSR 7808)

Released/updated on: 2005-11-04

Geographic coverage: United States

This study attempts to operationalize the concept of local legal culture by examining differences in the processing of twelve hypothetical criminal cases in four criminal courts. Questionnaires asking how these hypothetical cases should best be handled were administered to judges, district attorneys, and defense attorneys in four cities: Bronx County (New York City), New York, Detroit, Michigan, Miami, Florida, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In each city, the presiding judge, prosecutor, and head of the public defender's office were informed of the project. Questionnaires were distributed to prosecuting attorneys and public defenders by their supervisors. Judges were contacted in person or given questionnaires with a cover letter from the presiding judge. All questionnaires were completed anonymously and returned separately by respondents. The variables include number of years the respondent had been in the criminal justice system, preferred mode of disposition and of sentencing for each of the twelve cases, and the respondents' predictions of the probability of conviction in each case.

Curated

Partially restricted

Assessment of Defense and Prosecutorial Strategies in Terrorism Trials in the United States, 1980-2004 (ICPSR 26241)

Released/updated on: 2014-11-11

Geographic coverage: United States

Time period: 1980-01-01--2004-01-01

This study created a flat-file database of information regarding defendants who were referred to United States Attorneys by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) following official terrorism investigations between 1980 and 2004. Its ultimate goal was to provide state and federal prosecutors with empirical information that could assist federal and state prosecutors with more effective strategies for prosecution of terrorism cases. The results of this study enhanced the existing 78 variables in the AMERICAN TERRORISM STUDY, 1980-2002 (ICPSR 4639) database by adding the 162 variables from the Prosecution and Defense Strategies (PADS) database. The variables in the PADS database track information regarding important pleadings, motions, and other key events that occur in federal terrorism trials; the PADS variables measure the strategies used by legal counsel as well as other legal nuances.

Curated

Court Workforce Racial Diversity and Racial Justice in Criminal Case Outcomes in the United States, 2000-2005 (ICPSR 25423)

Released/updated on: 2009-06-25

Geographic coverage: United States

Time period: 2000-01-01--2005-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether workgroup racial composition is related to sentence outcomes generally, and racial differences in sentencing in particular, across federal districts. This collection contains information on federal court district characteristics. Data include information about the social context, court context, and diversity of the courtroom workgroup for 90 federal judicial districts provided by 50 judicial district context variables.

Curated

Criminal Case Processing in Metropolitan Courts, 1976 (ICPSR 7750)

Released/updated on: 2005-11-04

Geographic coverage: United States

In 1977 the National Center for State Courts, in cooperation with the National Conference of Metropolitan Courts, began a research and demonstration project on the delay in processing criminal cases in major metropolitan courts. The objectives were (1) to determine the scope and extent of the delay in such courts, (2) to identify factors associated with the delay, and (3) to suggest and ultimately test techniques that might work to reduce the delay. The variables include geographic location, disposition type, most serious charge against the defendant, and dates of arrest, trial, disposition, and sentencing.

Curated

Partially restricted

Evaluation of the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Brooklyn, [New York City, New York], 1998-2010 (ICPSR 34742)

Released/updated on: 2016-09-29

Geographic coverage: New York City, United States, Brooklyn, New York (state)

Time period: 2008-01-01--2010-01-01, 1998-01-01--2009-12-01, 2000-01-01--2009-01-01

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they there received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except of the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompany readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collections and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

The study examined four research questions: (1) Was the Red Hook Community Justice Center (RHCJC) implemented according to plan?; (2) Did RHCJC make a difference in sanctioning, recidivism, and arrests?; (3) How did RHCJC produce any observed reductions to recidivism and arrests?; and (4) Is RHCJC cost-efficient from the viewpoint of taxpayers?

The community survey (Red Hook Resident Data, n = 95) was administered by research teams in the spring and summer of 2010. Teams generally went house-to-house ringing apartment buzzers at varying times of day, usually on the weekend when working people are more likely to be home or approached people on the sitting on park benches to conduct interviews.

In autumn 2010, the research team administered a survey to 200 misdemeanor offenders (Red Hook Offender Data, n = 205) who were recruited from within the catchment area of the Red Hook Community Justice Center (RHCJC) using Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS).

To examine how the RHCJC was implemented (Red Hook Process Evaluation Data, n= 35,465 and Red Hook Work File Data, n= 3,127), the research team relied on a diverse range of data sources, including 52 structured group and individual interviews with court staff and stakeholders carried out over five site visits; observation of courtroom activities and staff meetings; extensive document review; and analysis of case-level data including all adult criminal cases and some juvenile delinquency cases processed at the Justice Center from 2000 through 2009.

To aid in understanding the RHCJC's impact on the overall level of crime in the catchment area, researchers obtained monthly counts (Arrest Data, n = 144) of felony and misdemeanor arrests in each of the three catchment area police precincts (the 72nd, 76th, and 78th precincts).

Curated

Partially restricted

Federal Justice Statistics Program Data, 1978-1994: [United States] (ICPSR 9296)

Released/updated on: 2023-01-16

Geographic coverage: United States

Time period: 1978-01-01--1994-01-01

Data in this collection examine the processing of federal offenders. The Cases Terminated files (Parts 1-3 and 25-28) contain information about defendants in criminal cases filed in the United States Federal District Court and terminated in the calendar years indicated. Defendants in criminal cases may either be individuals or corporations, and there is one record for each defendant in each case terminated. Information on court proceedings, date the case was filed, date the case was terminated, most serious charge, and reason for termination is included. The Docket and Reporting System files (Parts 4-7, 31-34, and 42) include information on suspects in investigative matters that took an hour or more of a United States Attorney's time with one of the following outcomes: (1) the United States Attorney declined to prosecute, (2) the case was filed in Federal District Court, or (3) the matter was disposed by a United States magistrate. Codes for each disposition and change of status are also provided. The Pretrial Services data (Parts 8, 22, 43, and 47) present variables on the circuit, district, and office where the defendant was charged, type of action, year of birth and sex of the defendant, major offense charge, and results of initial and detention hearings. The Parole Decisions data (Part 9) contain information from various parole hearings such as court date, appeal action, reopening decision, sentence, severity of sentence, offense, and race and ethnicity of the defendant. The Offenders Under Supervision files (Parts 15-16 and 37-40) focus on convicted offenders sentenced to probation supervision and federal prisoners released to parole supervision. The Federal Prisoner files (Parts 18 and 20) supply data on when an offender entered and was released from confinement, as well as the amount of time served for any given offense. The Administrative Office of the United States Courts data files (Parts 44, 52, and 53) contain records of defendants in criminal cases filed in Federal District Court and terminated in the calendar years indicated. There is one record for each defendant in each case. Variables include the date the case was filed, offense level, AO (Administrative Office) codes, and disposition date. The Bureau of Prisons data (both the Master and Detail files, Parts 45, 46, and 54-57 -- formerly known as the Federal Prisoner files) contain records of sentenced prisoners admitted to or released from federal prison during 1992-1994. These files consist of separate records for each prisoner's commitment to federal prison, and for each sentence imposed on a prisoner for a given commitment to federal prison. The Central System (CS) and Central Charge (CC) files of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) include information about suspects in criminal matters and defendants in criminal cases in 1993-1994. Each defendant in a criminal matter has a master Central System record (Parts 50 and 51) and may have one or more Central Charge records (Parts 48 and 49). The Federal Probation/Supervision Data files (Parts 58 and 59) provide information on supervision procedures and the sequence of events and proceedings in 1992-1994 from the time a case was opened for supervision until the case was terminated. These include reports of parole violations, transfers of supervision to other districts, and case removals due to, for example, rearrest or hospitalization. The Sentencing Commission data (Parts 60 and 61) contain information on federal criminal cases sentenced in 1992-1994 under the Sentencing Guidelines and Policy Statements of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984.

Curated

Massachusetts Superior Court Files, 1859-1959 (ICPSR 7776)

Released/updated on: 2010-05-14

Geographic coverage: United States, Massachusetts

Time period: 1859-01-01--1959-01-01

This dataset contains data about case records created between 1859-1959 in the Massachusetts Superior Court (and its predecessors) for two Massachusetts counties. Part 1 contains data for 1,952 criminal cases with 52 descriptive variables, including: type of crime, year crime was committed, pleas, sentences, appeals, size of file, and demographic characteristics of victim and defendant (e.g., gender, status, residence, and occupation). Eighteen variables describe and rate each case's historical interest. Part 2 contains data on 1,968 civil (law, equity, and divorce) cases, with 82 descriptive variables, such as: relationship between parties, type of complaint, relief sought, disposition, relief granted, number of claims, damages awarded, size of file, and demographic characteristics of plaintiff and defendant (e.g., gender, status, residence, and occupation). Ten variables describe and rate each case's historical interest. In both data files, criteria for historical interest coding include: (1) inherent interest, such as offenses that are not routine (e.g., white-collar crimes, sexual crimes, and serious felonies), parties who are inherently interesting (e.g., famous persons, institutional defendants, and law enforcement personnel), and legal proceedings that are inherently interesting (e.g., alleged violations of prosecutorial or judicial discretion), (2) contexts that are inherently interesting, and (3) extraordinary documentation, such as those that shed light on the legal system (e.g., pardons or letters from citizens' committees), shed light on social history (e.g., the testimony of a woman who moved to the city and inadvertently ended up in a brothel), provide legal/procedural information (e.g., the details of search or a technical challenge to an indictment), and describe public or political history (e.g., milk inspection or zoning laws).

Curated

Partially restricted

Social Science Research on Wrongful Convictions and Near Misses, 1980-2012 (ICPSR 34522)

Released/updated on: 2016-05-31

Geographic coverage: United States

Time period: 1980-01-01--2012-01-01

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

This study examined how the criminal justice system avoids wrongful convictions by comparing violent felony cases that ended in an official exoneration after conviction ("wrongful convictions") with those in which defendants had charges dismissed before trial or were acquitted on the basis of their factual innocence ("near misses"). Data were collected on a total of 460 cases (260 wrongful convictions and 200 near misses), and these cases were compared quantitatively and qualitatively on variables that might explain the different outcomes. These variables included the usual causes of wrongful convictions, such as eyewitness misidentification, false confession, and forensic error, as well as demographic, social, and procedural variables.

Curated

Testing the Effects of Selected Jury Trial Innovations on Juries' Comprehension of DNA Evidence in New Castle County, Delaware, 2003 (ICPSR 4356)

Released/updated on: 2006-01-06

Geographic coverage: United States, Delaware

Time period: 2003-10-14--2003-12-16

This study tested whether the use of selected jury trial reforms enhanced jurors' understanding of complex and challenging scientific evidence presented during a criminal trial. The study examined the use of several jury reform techniques using a controlled mock jury approach in which mock juries composed of jury pool members watched a videotaped armed robbery trial featuring conflicting expert testimony about mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) evidence. A total of 480 mock jurors were randomly assigned to eight-person juries and to one of the six conditions in the experiment. Ten mock juries were run in each of the six conditions (No Innovations, Note Taking, Question Asking and Note Taking, DNA Checklist and Note Taking, Jury Notebook and Note Taking, and All Innovations). At various points throughout the study (before the trial, after watching the videotaped trial, and after reaching a verdict), mock jurors were asked to complete questionnaires to gauge their understanding of mtDNA and the mtDNA evidence presented during the trial. They were also asked if and how the use of the jury trial innovations helped in their understanding of the mtDNA evidence. Specific variables contained in the study include demographic variables of the mock jurors, including their math and science background, mock jurors' views of science, their understanding of mtDNA, their perceptions of the reliability of different types of evidence, and the credibility of the prosecutor, defense attorney, detective, eyewitness, defendant, and expert witnesses, and whether the mock jurors favor or oppose the various innovations.