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Date: November 25, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:12 pm
Time: 8:12 pm
Results for criminal justice reforms
2 results foundAuthor: Orr, Kate Skellington Title: Summary Justice Reform: Undertakings Evaluation Summary: In December 2009, the Scottish Government commissioned an independent evaluation of reforms to undertakings, the findings of which are presented here. The research is part of a wider package of work to evaluate summary justice reform (SJR) in Scotland, and sits alongside five other evaluations of individual areas of reform, namely direct measures; criminal legal assistance and disclosure; fines enforcement; and lay justice. An evaluation of the impact of the whole package of reforms on the experiences and perceptions of victims and witnesses, and the perceptions of the general public was also commissioned. The reforms to undertakings were evaluated in tandem with a number of changes to bail which, although were part of the same Act, and occurred at roughly the same time (i.e. December 2007), were not directly part of SJR. The evaluation of the reforms to bail are the subject of a separate report with this report focusing solely on the reforms to undertakings. The main aim of the research was to evaluate how far the reforms to undertakings had met both the overarching aims and objectives of SJR, as well as a number of specific policy objectives. Details: Edinburgh: Scottish Social Research, 2012. 74p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 2, 2012 at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0038/00388998.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0038/00388998.pdf Shelf Number: 124343 Keywords: Criminal Justice AdministrationCriminal Justice PolicyCriminal Justice ReformsCriminal Justice Systems (Scotland) |
Author: PFM Group Title: A 21st Century Criminal Justice System for the City of New Orleans. Part I: Overview of the Criminal Justice System, its Costs and the Case for Better Coordination Summary: A University of New Orleans survey recently found that 61 percent of New Orleans residents cited crime as the most important issue in the city: the percentage of respondents citing crime as their primary concern was up from just 46 percent two years ago. Finding solutions to this problem is the top priority for Mayor Landrieu and the rest of the city’s leadership. Many factors go into the problem of crime in the United States and New Orleans. Decades of studies have demonstrated that certain individuals – based on socio-economic factors – are both more likely to commit crime and more likely to be victims of crime. Nationally, violent crime rates in the U.S. are higher than in other nations and scholars have noted that one difference may go to the availability of firearms. For years, law enforcement officials have argued that so much of what goes into defining a place’s crime problem is beyond their responsibility. Police are not responsible for school dropout rates. Prosecutors are not responsible for poverty rates. And judges are not responsible for the incidence of mental health problems in a community. Nevertheless, in most communities, we charge those who comprise “the criminal justice system” with the responsibility for keeping streets and neighborhoods safe. At the same time, there are bounds set by law – by statute, by state constitution and by the federal constitution – as to what steps these officials may take to fulfill that responsibility. Overall, we want to have a community where both civil rights and civil order are maintained. Meeting these twin goals – civil rights and civil order – is made more complicated by the fragmented nature of the criminal justice system. It has been noted that: “[I]f a system is thought of as a smoothly operating set of arrangements and institutions directed toward the achievement of common goals, one is hard pressed to call the operation of criminal justice in the United States a system….a more accurate representation may be that of a criminal justice nonsystem.” The New Orleans criminal justice system is highly fragmented – with the Mayor having direct control over some agencies (e.g. Police, Human Services), but with independently elected officials (e.g. Sheriff, District Attorney, judges, clerks) controlling the rest. The fragmentation in authority is matched by a fragmented process of funding – including funds from the City, state and federal governments, as well as outside grants and a significant amount of funding derived through fees and fines collected from defendants. Over the last several years, the city and various parts of the criminal justice system have launched a series of reforms. • In July, the city entered into a consent decree with the Department of Justice that addresses a wide variety of issues at the New Orleans Police Department from community policing practices and training to internal investigations and paid police details. The Mayor has already implemented many of the requirements in the decree and in the next four years it will serve as a detailed, comprehensive road map for reform. • NOLA for Life is a strategy to reduce homicides. Prevention is at the core of this plan - jobs, opportunity, rebuilding neighborhoods and improving the police department. But it all starts with one goal: stop the shooting. • The Mayor’s Strategic Command to Reduce Murders regularly brings together representatives of the criminal justice system, schools, community and civic organizations to review and analyze each homicide so as to develop prevention strategies. • After his appointment in May 2010, Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas announced a 65 point plan to reform the New Orleans Police Department and implementation of the plan began late that year. • The New Orleans Police Department has significantly reduced the number of individuals stopped for committing a crime who are arrested. Instead, the Department now routinely issues summonses to offenders for lower level offenses. • With the support of the Mayor and the City Council, a pre-trial services program was launched in the Criminal District Court under the guidance of the Vera Institute of Justice and with the cooperation of the Orleans Criminal Sheriff. The program is designed to help judges who set bond better assess the threat criminal defendants pose to the public. The result is that many low level offenders who are not a threat to public safety are released on their own recognizance rather than being held in jail awaiting trial. • The Mayor convened a Criminal Justice Working Group that included the Sheriff, Judges, District Attorney, and other community leaders to consider a variety of topics relating to the Orleans Parish Prison. • Greater cooperation between the New Orleans Police Department and the District Attorney has significantly reduced screening time for felony arrests. • The District Attorney now brings misdemeanor charges under provisions of municipal ordinance. The DA has also shifted nearly all state misdemeanor cases to Municipal Court. This has significantly reduced the workload at the Criminal District Court. • The New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation with funding from the federal government, and partners across the criminal justice system are working collaboratively to upgrade the system’s technological capabilities through the Orleans Parish Information Sharing and Information System (OPISIS). • The City Council has also actively supported efforts for reform across the criminal justice system and its Criminal Justice Committee has frequently served as a forum for discussion of new and innovative approaches to public safety. All of these developments are reason to be optimistic about the city’s ability to improve the criminal justice system. Despite these significant developments, our report finds that there is a need to do more. Interviews with leadership across the criminal justice system – and with organizations outside of the criminal justice system – indicate a consensus on the need to do more and to do more in a collaborative and coordinated manner. As detailed below, the cost of the criminal justice system is significant – with approximately $300 million annually expended in local, state, federal, grant and self generated dollars on a system that employs more than 3,200 full time employees or equivalents. This system includes police, prosecutors, public defenders, investigators, coroner’s staff, judges and clerks and their judicial support staff. In addition, because of the disproportionate number of state prisoners, probationers and parolees who come from New Orleans, the state – independent of funds expended through local agencies – also spends an estimated additional $75 million on the criminal justice system and these estimates of spending do not account for costs in the education, health and human services agencies that are directly related to the operations and policies of the criminal justice system. Details: Philadelphia, PA: The PFM Group, 2012. 69p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 15, 2012 at: http://images.skem1.com/client_id_15553/PFM_Report,_Part_1_October_2012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://images.skem1.com/client_id_15553/PFM_Report,_Part_1_October_2012.pdf Shelf Number: 126708 Keywords: Costs of Criminal JusticeCriminal Justice ReformsCriminal Justice Systems (New Orleans, U.S.) |