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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
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Results for prosecution
59 results foundAuthor: Shiner, Max Title: Civil Gang Injunctions: A Guide for Prosecutors Summary: As gang crime continues to escalate across the country, prosecutors, law enforcement, community leaders, and allied professionals continually seek innovative methods to reduce the spread of gang-related criminal activity. One method, pioneered by the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, is the use of gang injunctions. This publication introduces prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to the specific steps necessary to put into place this innovative innovative and effective process. Details: Alexandria, VA: American Prosecutors Research Institute, 2005. 55p. Source: Year: 2005 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 117313 Keywords: GangsProsecution |
Author: Cohen, Thomas H. Title: Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2006 Summary: This statistical report presents data collected from a representative sample of felony cases filed in the nation's 75 most populous counties during May 2006. To provide a complete overview of the processing felony defendants from filing to disposition and sentencing, non-murder cases are tracked for one year and murder cases are tracked for two years. Data collected include current arrest charges, demographic characteristics, prior arrests and convictions, criminal justice status at time of arrest, type of pretrial release or detention, bail amount, court appearance record, adjudication outcome, and conviction sentence received. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2010. 41p. Source: Internet Resource; Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin, May 2010 Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 118596 Keywords: CourtsCriminal Statistics (U.S.)DefendantsProsecution |
Author: Northern Ireland. Criminal Justice Inspection Title: Avoidable Delay: Incorporating an Inspection of the Interface Between the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland Summary: Tackling the problem of avoidable delay goes to the heart of the justice system as it involves all the major justice organisations and impacts widely on the ‘users’ of the justice system whether they are victims, witnesses or defendants. This report shows that despite the major efforts to address the problem of avoidable delay In the Northern Ireland criminal justice system since the previous inspection report in 2006, these initiatives have made a relatively limited impact. The length of time it takes the justice system to process individuals through to disposal by a court is still too long. Details: Belfast: Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland, 2010. 92p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: Shelf Number: 119370 Keywords: Courts (Northern Ireland)Criminal Justice SystemProsecution |
Author: Taraciuk, Tamara Title: Uniform Impunity: Mexico's Misuse of Military Justice to Prosecute Abuses in Counternarcotics and Public Security Operations Summary: "This report details 17 cases involving military abuses against more than 70 victims, including several cases from 2007 and 2008. The abuses include killings, torture, rapes, and arbitrary detentions. Not one of the military investigations into these crimes has led to a conviction for even a single soldier on human rights violations. The only civilian investigation into any of these cases led to the conviction of four soldiers." Details: Internet Resource; Accessed August 14, 2010 at: Source: New York: Human Rights Watch, 2009. 76p. Year: 2010 Country: Mexico URL: Shelf Number: 114623 Keywords: Human Rights (Mexico)Military Justice (Mexico)NarcoticsProsecutionRapeTorture |
Author: Cheesman, Nick Title: The Criminal Justice System of the Philippines is Rotten Summary: This report examines the situation of criminal justice and wanton killings, disappearances, assault, arbitrary detention and torture by state officers or their agents in the Philippines. The report contains details of 110 specific cases, involving 227 victims, including 81 incidents of killing or attempted killing documented by the sister organisation of the ALRC, the Asian Human Rights Commission since 2004, 62 of them since the start of 2006 alone. The remaining 39 cases relate to incidents of torture, disappearance, abduction, illegal arrest and intimidation. The report discusses these individual cases with reference in particular to the country¡¦s defective policing, and inept prosecution and witness protection programme, handled by the Department of Justice. It also discusses them with reference to the role of the military, and in particular, the labelling of persons extrajudicially killed as ¡§enemies¡¨ or equivalent, in order to create a category of citizens for whom the ordinary laws no longer need apply and who may be killed without fear of consequences or the prospect of effective investigation. The manner in which this is now being done threatens the entire criminal justice system, and more broadly, the very fabric of government and democracy of the country. Six suggestions are given for ways to stop the rot, including with reference to the need for an urgent comprehensive review of the Philippines criminal justice system; the rationalising of its deficient witness protection programme and law; the strengthening of agencies for the receipt, investigation and prosecution of complaints against police and military officials; the use of labelling; action on findings into extrajudicial killings; and the enactment of domestic laws on torture, enforced disappearance and other fundamental rights in accordance with binding agreements under international treaties and the recommendations of treaty bodies. (Excerpts from document) Details: Hong Kong: Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), 2007. 192p. Source: Internet Resource; Article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; Vol. 6, no. 1; Accessed August 17, 2010 at: http://www.article2.org/pdf/v06n01.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Philippines URL: http://www.article2.org/pdf/v06n01.pdf Shelf Number: 113032 Keywords: Criminal Justice Systems (Philippines)Human RightsPolicing (Philippines)ProsecutionTortureViolence (Philippines) |
Author: U.S. Government Accountability Office Title: Corporate Crime: DOJ Has Taken Steps to Better Track Its Use of Deferred and Non-Prosecution Agreements, but Should Evaluate Effectiveness Summary: Recent cases of corporate fraud and mismanagement heighten the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) need to appropriately punish and deter corporate crime. Recently, DOJ has made more use of deferred prosecution and non-prosecution agreements (DPAs and NPAs), in which prosecutors may require company reform, among other things, in exchange for deferring prosecution. In June and November 2009, GAO testified on DOJ’s use and oversight of DPAs and NPAs, and this report discusses additional findings, including (1) the extent to which DOJ has used DPAs and NPAs to address corporate misconduct and tracks use of these agreements, (2) the extent to which DOJ measures the effectiveness of DPAs and NPAs, and (3) the role of the court in the DPA and NPA process. GAO examined 152 DPAs and NPAs negotiated from 1993 through September 2009 and analyzed DOJ data on corporate prosecutions in fiscal years 2004 through 2009. GAO also interviewed DOJ officials, prosecutors from 13 DOJ offices, 20 company representatives, 11 monitors who oversee company compliance, and 12 federal judges. While not generalizable, these results provide insight into decisions about DPAs and NPAs. GAO recommends that DOJ develop performance measures to assess the effectiveness of DPAs and NPAs. DOJ agreed with our recommendation. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2009. 47p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 22, 2010 at: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10110.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10110.pdf Shelf Number: 119649 Keywords: Commercial CrimesCorporate CrimeFraudProsecution |
Author: Nugent-Borakove, M. Elaine Title: Testing the Efficacy of SANE/SART Programs: Do They Make A Difference in Sexual Assault Arrest & Prosecution Outcomes? Summary: This study examined the effectiveness of SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners)/SART (Sexual Assault Response Teams) programs as a tool in the criminal justice system, specifically the impact of sexual assault case outcomes. The study examined five primary research questions: (1) was the arrest rate higher in cases where a SANE/SART exam was performed as compared with cases in which no exam was performed; (2) was the indictment/charging rate higher in such cases; (3) were guilty pleas more likely to be entered in such cases; (4) was the conviction rate higher in such cases; and (5) was the sentence more severe in such cases. Details: Alexandria, VA: American Prosecutors Research Institute, 2006. 62p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 9, 2010 at: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/214252.pdf Year: 2006 Country: United States URL: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/214252.pdf Shelf Number: 119772 Keywords: ProsecutionSex OffendersSexual AssaultVictims of Crime |
Author: Clawson, Heather J. Title: Prosecuting Human Trafficking Cases: Lessons Learned and Promising Practices Summary: Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to exploit a person for profit. Trafficking victims are subjected to sexual exploitation, forced labor, or both. Labor exploitation includes slavery, forced labor, and debt bondage, while sexual exploitation typically includes abuse within the commercial sex industry. While human trafficking is a crime that is prohibited by state, federal, and international law, estimates of the magnitude of the problem are alarming. This study examines the existing U.S. Federal and State legislation in providing prosecutors with the tools needed to gain convictions of those charged with human trafficking, defined as “the use of force, fraud, or coercion to exploit a person for profit.” The findings suggest that once human trafficking prosecutions have begun, guilty verdicts are likely. Details: Fairfax, VA: ICF International, 2008. 94p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 13, 2010 at: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/223972.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United States URL: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/223972.pdf Shelf Number: 113031 Keywords: Human TraffickingProsecution |
Author: Nugent-Borakove, M. Elaine Title: Exploring the Feasibilitiy and Efficacy of Performance Measures in Prosecution and Their Application to Community Prosecution Summary: How is success measured in prosecution? Is it conviction rates, the outcome of a single high profile case, a low number of plea bargains, or less crime? What information can prosecutors look to justify funding requests, respond to vague criticism of office performance, or to make management decisions? Until recently, prosecutors lacked any empirically-based guidance that adequately addressed the need for a menu of performance measures that can be used to answer these questions. In 2003, with funding from the National Institute of Justice and the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, the American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI), the research and development division of the National District Attorneys Association, began to tackle this issue by convening a group of experienced prosecutors, policymakers, economists, and academics to develop a performance measurement framework for prosecutors. The resulting Prosecution for the 21st Century performance measurement framework, shown in Exhibit 1, identifies measurable goals and objectives for prosecutors that are linked to a series of possible performance measures. Unlike previous attempts to define performance measures for prosecutors, the performance measurement framework is built upon a comprehensive set of goals and objectives that take into account the many different roles prosecutors undertake in their day-to-day activities. Both the traditional case processing and sanction setting roles form the foundation for the first goal to promote the fair, impartial, and expeditious pursuit of justice. Newer roles relating to more proactive problem-solving efforts and community-based prosecution are addressed largely in the second goal, to ensure safer communities. Finally, the idea of the prosecutor as a leader in the judicial system is the basis for the final goal to promote integrity in the prosecution profession and coordination in the justice system. The three goals are defined in a manner to capture the intended results of all the various functions of the local prosecutor—case processing, crime prevention and intervention, and the overall administration of justice—respecting the unique role of the prosecutor and accounting for the continual evolution of the prosecutorial function. Related to each of these goals is a series of objectives from which a menu of performance measures was generated. The framework is intended to provide a guide for performance measurement in prosecution that is tailorable to the unique situations of individual prosecutors’ offices but also broad enough to suggest appropriate measures for more large scale research on prosecution. The performance measures shown in the framework are intended to represent a menu of possible measures that an office might use depending on the office’s specific policies and practices. For example, if an office does not place defendants and/or offenders into treatment programs, measures related to placements in treatment programs would not be appropriate. Details: Alexandria, VA: National Prosecutors Research Institute, 2009. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 20, 2010 at: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/227668.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/227668.pdf Shelf Number: 120028 Keywords: Community ProsecutionCourtsPerformance MeasuresProsecution |
Author: Great Britain. HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate Title: Abandoned Prosecutions: An Audit of CPS Performance Relating to the Handling of Discharged Committals Summary: This report deals with the issue of discharged committals, which represent a category of case which is not brought to justice and as a consequence resources are wasted across the criminal justice system. The cost to the CPS of these abandoned prosecutions amounts to potentially more than £600,000 a year. The report outlines where CPS processes need to improve if valuable resources are to be used more efficiently. Details: London: HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, 2010. 33p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 29, 2010 at: http://www.hmcpsi.gov.uk/documents/services/reports/AUD/HDC_audit_Oct10_rpt.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.hmcpsi.gov.uk/documents/services/reports/AUD/HDC_audit_Oct10_rpt.pdf Shelf Number: 120129 Keywords: CourtsProsecution |
Author: Stewart, James G. Title: Corporate War Crimes: Prosecuting the Pillage of Natural Resources Summary: Since the end of the Cold War, the illegal exploitation of natural resources has emerged as a primary means of financing armed violence. In countries as diverse as Afghanistan, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, East Timor, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the sale of natural resources within conflict zones has not only created perverse incentives for war, it has also furnished warring parties with the finances necessary to sustain some of the most brutal hostilities in recent history. As a consequence of the illegal trade in minerals, metals, timber, and other natural resources, armed conflicts in which participants are able to draw upon easily accessible natural resource wealth are often more bloody, financially costly, and intractable than other forms of armed violence. Resource wars also contribute to the so-called resource curse, whereby the richest nations in terms of resource endowment are poorest in terms of social development and most prone to violent upheaval. While there is broad consensus that the correlation between resource wealth and armed violence must be addressed through a range of initiatives geared at fighting corruption, policing the resource sector domestically, and building judicial capacity in countries recovering from war, the liability of foreign businesses for trading in illicit conflict commodities is also vital. Resource wars, after all, are entirely dependent on commercial actors to purchase, transport, and market the resources that are illegally acquired in order to sustain violence. As part of this growing interest in resource wars, Corporate War Crimes: Prosecuting the Pillage of Natural Resources explores the elements of corporate liability for the war crime of pillage. Although the term pillage has a long pedigree in the laws of war, the offense also features as a contemporary war crime in the statutes of all modern international criminal courts and a large number of domestic criminal systems. In essence, pillage means theft during war, and is synonymous with other equally evocative terms such as looting, spoliation, and plunder. A substantial body of jurisprudence has applied the offense in practice. Modern courts such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) enforce the offense as a matter of course. At present, Liberia’s former president Charles Taylor and the former vice-president of Congo Jean- Pierre Bemba are facing trial before international courts for having allegedly perpetrated acts of pillage during war, but the most important precedents derive from World War Two. In the wake of that conflict, a significant number of business representatives were prosecuted for pillaging natural resources in circumstances that are often strikingly similar to corporate practices in modern resource wars. By exploring these cases and the law governing pillage in detail, Corporate War Crimes seeks to guide investigative bodies and war crimes prosecutors engaged with the technicalities of these issues. We also hope that this manual will be useful for advocates, political institutions, and companies interested in curbing resource wars. Our belief is that the deterrent effect created by even a single case is likely to transform conflict financing in a large number of ongoing conflicts. At the same time, we are conscious of the potential humanitarian consequences of depriving warring factions of access to resource wealth in some contexts, and of the serious dangers of tarnishing reputable companies that provide the legitimate investment essential to rehabilitating economies ravaged by war. With this balance in mind, this project seeks to act as a catalyst for reinvigorating prosecution of the war crime of pillage and to bring accountability to companies that illegally trade in conflict commodities. Details: New York: Open Society Institute, 2010. 148p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 1, 2010 at: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/justice/focus/anticorruption/articles_publications/publications/pillage-manual-20101025/pillage-manual-20101025.pdf Year: 2010 Country: International URL: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/justice/focus/anticorruption/articles_publications/publications/pillage-manual-20101025/pillage-manual-20101025.pdf Shelf Number: 120138 Keywords: Illegal TradeLootingOffenses Against the EnvironmentPillagingProsecutionTheft |
Author: Strom, Kevin J. Title: NIJ Controlled Substances Case Processing Study Summary: The processing and analysis of controlled substance evidence accounts for a significant proportion of the work performed by forensic crime laboratories. Crime laboratories are faced with ever-increasing caseloads and demands for prompt analytical information, and the impact of drug chemistry analysis on laboratory backlogs has been largely overlooked. RTI International was funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to conduct the Controlled Substances Case Processing Study. The primary objectives of the study were to (1) gain an improved understanding of how controlled substances cases are processed, from the point of collection (law enforcement) through analysis (forensic laboratories) to subsequent criminal justice processes (prosecution), including factors that influence decision making at different stages in the process; (2) describe the role that controlled substances evidence plays in charging decisions by prosecutors, pretrial plea negotiations, and posttrial convictions; and (3) gather descriptive information from a range of U.S. jurisdictions that could be used to identify problems and develop systemic solutions to case backlogs and other inefficiencies in these forensic systems. Data were collected from a purposive sample of 10 jurisdictions, which represented a wide variation of different law enforcement and laboratory arrangements within state and local systems. Other selection criteria included jurisdiction size, rural or urban location, and differences in legal processes. Site visits to each of the selected jurisdictions were typically conducted over a 2-day period using semistructured interviews. Basic metrics associated with case processing statistics were also collected. Overall, a total of 38 agencies and 60 respondents were interviewed. The findings from this study demonstrate that jurisdictions vary considerably in terms of how they process and analyze controlled substance evidence. Laboratory drug analysis results were not often used (or required) as part of the charging process; in many jurisdictions the charging decisions were tied to the field test result and not to the presence of a confirmatory analysis result. In only one jurisdiction did the prosecutor require that the confirmatory analysis be conducted before the grand jury process (and before any plea negotiation discussions). However, although laboratory analysis was not required for plea negotiations in most sites, some still submitted all drug evidence directly to the laboratory regardless of whether it would ultimately be needed. In terms of barriers and challenges identified, from a laboratory perspective, there is an acute need for more uniform procedures and processes for submitting and analyzing drug evidence, including prioritization based on factors such as case seriousness. From a law enforcement perspective, the findings suggest that more systematic policies and resources need to be in place for evidence retention and storage. Improved communication was identified as an area of need by all the sites; however, some sites had more effective crossagency communication than others. A key for improving coordination was the presence of effective laboratory submission guidelines. In three jurisdictions, the implementation of a case submission policy was attributed to significant reductions in both the number of controlled substance cases pending analysis and the time to turn around cases. Case tracking systems that promote information sharing and monitoring across the different stages of the process were also highly effective. For example, a limited number of sites reported that prosecutors proactively provided information on cases resolved either by plea bargaining or dismissal — cases that, study participants estimated, represented 50–75% of the drug case “backlog.” Details: Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI International, 2010. 103p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 29, 2011 at: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/233830.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/233830.pdf Shelf Number: 121187 Keywords: Crime LaboratoriesDrug OffensesEvidenceForensicsPlea BargainingProsecutionProsecutorial Discretion |
Author: Corsaro, Nicholas Title: The Peoria Pulling Levers Drug Market Intervention: A Review of Program Process, Changes in Perception, and Crime Impact Summary: The Peoria Drug Market Intervention (DMI) program was intended to alleviate the disproportionately high crime rates found within a high-risk, disadvantaged, and chronically violent geographic area. Officials within the city decided to implement a focused deterrence strategy that relied upon the use of target identification, investigation, and arrest sweeps followed with an offender notification session that occurred within the target neighborhood. At the core of the strategy was the enhanced prosecution of identified offenders combined with an attempt to bridge partnerships between local law enforcement and residents of the target area. Increased prosecution was designed to incapacitate chronic and violent offenders as well as to communicate a credible deterrent threat to potential replacement law violators. The public meeting (i.e., notification session) was used to publicize the increased risk of sanctions that potential replacement offenders would face if the drug markets re-emerged. This study used a variety of methodological and analytical approaches to examine the following: • The fidelity of program implementation through the use of a detailed process assessment. • The change in officially reported violent, property, and drug related offenses as well as calls for police service trends by relying upon interrupted time series analyses. • Peoria residents’ perceptions of crime after the implementation of the strategy, awareness of the DMI program, and changes in police-community partnerships through the use of phone surveys that captured information from residents living in the target area, a control area, and the remainder of Peoria (for comparison purposes). • The use of in-depth resident interviews to capture detailed information regarding the dynamics of neighborhood conditions, drug markets, and perceived police activity. A synthesis of study results indicated that Peoria police and public officials were consistent with the fidelity of the focused deterrence framework throughout the duration of the initiative. Study results clearly indicated, however, that crime and calls for service within the target area remained relatively stable between pre- and post-intervention periods. In addition, the vast majority of target area residents that were interviewed appeared somewhat unfamiliar with the tenets and purpose of the intervention program, indicating a shortfall in the intended police-community partnership. In-depth resident interviews suggested that residents were seriously concerned with replacement offending, displacement, retaliation, and neighborhood stigmatization if they cooperated with police. We drew upon research from organizational and social disorganization theories to highlight the key themes, implications, and potential limitations of the Peoria focused deterrence strategy. Details: Chicago: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, 2011. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 11, 2011 at: http://www.icjia.state.il.us/public/pdf/ResearchReports/PeoriaPullingLeversDrugMarketIntervention_Report_March_2011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.icjia.state.il.us/public/pdf/ResearchReports/PeoriaPullingLeversDrugMarketIntervention_Report_March_2011.pdf Shelf Number: 121307 Keywords: Drug EnforcementDrug MarketsDrug OffensesFocused Deterrence (Illinois)Neighborhoods and CrimePolice-Community PartnershipsProsecutionPulling Levers Strategy |
Author: O'Reilly, Justine Title: New Zealand Police Pre-Charge Warnings Alternative Resolutions: Evaluation Report Summary: The evaluation of the Alternative Resolutions - Pre-Charge Warning initiative trial contributed to the decision by Police to implement the initiative nationally in September. Three Auckland Districts trialled pre-charge warnings from November 2009 to May 2010. The aim of pre-charge warnings is to develop better alternatives to hold offenders to account for less serious offending without having to use the courts. Under this process, Police can arrest a person, take them to a station for processing and then issue a warning as an alternative to charging and prosecution. Pre-charge warnings can be used for people 17 years of age and over, low level or minor offences and those offences with a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment. Those involved in family violence offences or methamphetamine offences are ineligible for pre-charge warnings. Among other things, the evaluation aimed to assess the extent to which pre-charge warnings achieved the intended outcomes for Police, and look at take up across the Auckland region. The key findings from the evaluation were: •an overall reduction of 9% in charges proceeding to court in the Auckland region •a positive response from operational police •a generally positive response from victims • reduced file preparation resulting in a time-saving for Police. The majority of offences (31,647) were still prosecuted while 3,137 charges were resolved by way of a pre-charge warning. The most common offences resolved by a pre-charge warning were Disorder (26%), Breach of Liquor Ban (21%) and Shoplifting (9%) Some areas for improvement have been identified and will assist the ongoing development of the Alternative Resolutions initiative. Details: Wellington, NZ: New Zealand Police, 2010. 85p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 15, 2011 at: https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2010-12-09_alternative_resolutions_report_final__elec_isbn_.pdf Year: 2010 Country: New Zealand URL: https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2010-12-09_alternative_resolutions_report_final__elec_isbn_.pdf Shelf Number: 121368 Keywords: Alternatives to ProsecutionDiversionMisdemeanorsPolice DiscretionPre-Charge Warnings (New Zealand)Prosecution |
Author: Wilson, Doug Title: An Evaluation of the Rhode Island Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) Summary: The Sexual Assault and Trauma Resource Center (SATRC) of Rhode Island contracted with BOTEC Analysis Corporation with funding from the National Institute of Justice1 to undertake an evaluation of the principal legal effects on clients of the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) operated by the Sexual Assault and Trauma Resource Center. Local police, in the United States, have the unique role of determining the pool of defendants in crime investigations, given the ability and willingness of the victim to confirm them. Prosecutors then guided by the informal norms of the courtroom workgroup and their discretion choose from the pool of defendants. Police decisions to arrest and the prosecutor’s decision to file a felony complaint in sexual assaults constitute the primary official screening of these crimes. In the past 25 or more years, the criminal justice system has reformed sexual assault laws and communities have developed programs, such as rape crisis centers, and SART and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs, which are designed to provide catalysts to the effects of legal reforms. This evaluation is the first outcome evaluation of a SART program. The evaluation describes the SART process, which is a coordinated effort between the victim, The Sexual Assault and Trauma Resource Center (SATRC), the police department, the Rhode Island Department of the Attorney General, the prosecuting agency for felony sexual assaults. It also examines the outcome of this process. The SART program was initiated in January 2002. The evaluation covers assaults for a period, from September 2002 – August 2003 following the initial implementation phase. The cases were followed until July 2004. As should be expected the program is still developing, but nevertheless it has demonstrated positive effects in that there is demand among sexual assault victims for SART services. Victims who seek SART services have significant odds of being assaulted by a friend, acquaintance or relative, have a subsequent forensic exam, and believe that the offense is first degree sexual assault. Also, users of SART services are importantly less likely to have an initial finding of probable cause found by the police. The estimated probability of a victim choosing to be a SART client, whose assault is without these assault characteristics and the police find probable cause is 3 percent, while the probability of a victim seeking SART services with all of these assault characteristics and the police do not initially find probable cause is 89 percent. At this stage in the development of the SART program there is, however, no clear effect on the legal outcome of cases. Contingency analyses examined seven hypotheses about the legal effects of SART. They are: 1. SART increases the pool of defendants. 2. SART cases that are intimate partner sexual assaults are more likely to be charged in Superior Court. 3. Victims with forensic exams are more likely to have defendants charged in Superior Court. 4. SART victims with forensic exams are more likely to be charged in Superior Court. 5. Judicial processes for SART cases move more slowly and thus understate the effect of SART because of a SART case backlog. 6. SART cases after they are filed in Superior Court are less likely to be dismissed. 7. SART cases are more likely than non-SART cases to be charged in Superior Court. The application of Fisher’s exact test to each of these seven hypotheses provided no evidence that the null hypotheses should be questioned. These results, however, should be viewed with circumspection. The statistical power of the contingency analyses was modest, due to small sample sizes. That is, a longer test of SART and a larger sample might produce somewhat different results. Also, it may be that SART efforts have helped to maintain a “level playing field” and that that the consistent null results in the contingency analyses demonstrates SART’s success at maintaining the likelihood that acquaintance assaults will be prosecuted, which is an outcome of rape law reform legislated several years earlier. That is, SART programs may be a lagged social response to social-legislative-judicial change. Finally, SART’s effect may “spillover” to the prosecution of sexual assault cases in which the victim does not use SART services. As a result there is a null difference between the outcome of SART and non-SART cases. The literature review of police and prosecution of sexual assault in other jurisdictions indicates that the reform of sexual assault laws has increased the likelihood of the prosecution of acquaintance rapes relative to stranger rapes. Nevertheless discussions with the Rhode Island Department of the Attorney General indicate that SART cases, many of which by their characteristics are acquaintance assaults and are coupled with a lack of an initial finding by the police of probable cause, are more difficult to prosecute. Furthermore, as is discussed in the literature review, informal arrest and prosecution guidelines for sexual assault continue to apply extra-legal standards, such as evidence of resistance. For example, in this study, when the police failed to find probable cause it was strongly related to a lack of injury; that is, a failure to resist. Details: Waltham, MA: BOTEC Analysis Corporation, 2005. 63p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 10, 2011 at: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/210584.pdf Year: 2005 Country: United States URL: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/210584.pdf Shelf Number: 121699 Keywords: ProsecutionRapeSex OffendersSexual AssaultVictims of Sexual Assault |
Author: Smith, Gerard Title: The Criminal Justice Response to Human Trafficking: Recent Developments in the Greater Mekong Sub-region Summary: This article highlights developments in the criminal justice response to human trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) over the last three years. Developments in the strengthening of the legal framework, criminal justice institutions and in support provided to victims are highlighted while acknowledging that progress has been uneven across the region. Many obstacles remain and more needs to be done to ensure that recent developments result in real change where it matters: better protected and supported victims; more and better quality prosecutions that are in accordance with international criminal justice standards; greater levels of cooperation between the GMS counties; and a donor community that is facilitating and supporting such changes. Details: Bangkok: United Nationa Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking, 2010. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 24, 2011 at: http://www.no-trafficking.org/reports_docs/siren/GMS-08_eng.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia URL: http://www.no-trafficking.org/reports_docs/siren/GMS-08_eng.pdf Shelf Number: 121825 Keywords: Human Trafficking (Asia)ProsecutionVictims of Trafficking |
Author: Corrigan, James Title: Use of Legal Services by the Criminal Justice System Summary: The criminal justice system is the largest purchaser of legal services in the public sector. Over the three year period 2007-10, the cost of criminal legal aid was £155 million. The cost of the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) was £106 million. In addition the legal services necessary to support the operational and corporate activities of other justice organisations was £36 million over the same period. The purpose of the inspection was to assess the manner in which legal services were identified and resourced, determine the breakdown of legal expenditure and review procurement arrangements for external legal services. The inspection did not consider criminal legal aid in detail as this has recently been subject to work by the Northern Ireland Audit Office. The inspection report has identified a number of changes required regarding the ways in which legal services are provided. In particular the purchasing of legal services lacks the discipline used and expected for other professional services. Standard competitive arrangements are embryonic (used mainly for the services of solicitors) with costs determined by a range of different fee structures which have lacked transparency and predictability. Many justice organisations were unaware of the actual costs until completion of the work and this can exceed the original estimates. This practice is generally considered unacceptable in other commercial environments, where the supplier of a service would be expected to provide an estimate of the costs of service provision and to justify and explain variations from these estimates. The inspection report also highlighted the differential payments made to defence and prosecution counsel. There is a need to develop a common approach to achieve a convergence between the level of prosecution and legal aid fees. A significant and sustained improvement in value for money across the justice system requires a more co-ordinated and consistent approach by public sector buyers. The current fragmented approach linked to a plethora of different fee arrangements/schemes for different types of services (for example, criminal legal aid, civil work, prosecution and defence work) has hindered progress. The Department of Justice (DoJ) is best placed to take the lead in this regard. Details: Belfast: Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland, 2011. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 29, 2011 at: http://www.cjini.org/CJNI/files/50/503670ba-f0a8-4fc8-9842-725c09c0100e.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.cjini.org/CJNI/files/50/503670ba-f0a8-4fc8-9842-725c09c0100e.pdf Shelf Number: 121895 Keywords: CourtsCriminal Justice SystemLegal Services (Northern Ireland)Prosecution |
Author: Entorf, Horst Title: Crime, Prosecutors, and the Certainty of Conviction Summary: This paper tests predictions of a structural, augmented supply-of-offenders model regarding the relative effects of police, public prosecution and courts, respectively, on crime. Using detailed data on the different stages of the criminal prosecution process in Germany, empirical evidence suggests that public prosecutors and their influence on the probability of conviction play a major role in explaining the variation of crime rates, while the impact of the severity of punishment is small and insignificant. Details: Bonn, Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2011. 42p. Source: Internet Resource: Discussion Paper No. 5670: Accessed July 15, 2011 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp5670.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Germany URL: http://ftp.iza.org/dp5670.pdf Shelf Number: 122076 Keywords: DeterrenceProsecutionPublic ProsecutorsPunishment (Germany) |
Author: Vetten, Lisa Title: Tracking Justice: The Attrition of Rape Cases through the Criminal Justice System in Gauteng Summary: An exploration of how the criminal justice system processes complaints of rape is essential for at least two reasons. Firstly, it establishes the measure of justice afforded rape complainants and thus enables South African society to hold criminal justice system personnel to account. Secondly, it provides insight into how and why justice may be eroded and the criminal justice system’s consequent ability to deter sexual violence weakened. In pursuit of these objectives we undertook a study in Gauteng Province to describe the processing of rape complaints, as well as their outcome, from the time such complaints were reported in 2003, to the point at which they were disposed of by either the police or courts. The research also describes the characteristics of reported rape in the province. Our study was undertaken in Gauteng Province where, in 2003, a total of 11 926 rapes were reported at the 128 police stations in Gauteng Province. A sample was drawn for the study using a two stage procedure. The first stage drew a sample of 70 police stations using probability proportional to size, where size was based on the number of rape cases reported to the police in 2003. Within each police station all the closed rape cases for the year were identified by their CAS numbers and a random sample of 30 dockets was selected (or all cases if fewer than 30 cases were reported in that year to the sampled police station). The dockets were then located either at the police station or at the specialist Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Units and data abstracted. There was no replacement of dockets that were unavailable. This procedure provided a sample of 2,068 cases for the study. Records for those cases that went to court were obtained from both High Courts in the province, as well as all 30 magistrates’ courts. Details: Johannesburg: Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre, the South African Medical Research Council and the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, 2008. 64p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 23, 2011 at: http://www.csvr.org.za/docs/tracking_justice.pdf Year: 2008 Country: South Africa URL: http://www.csvr.org.za/docs/tracking_justice.pdf Shelf Number: 115817 Keywords: Criminal CourtsProsecutionRape (South Africa)Sexual Violence |
Author: de Bont, Saoirse Title: Prosecuting Pirates and Upholding Human Rights Law: Taking Perspective Summary: Incidents of piracy off the coast of Somalia have increased in recent years, rising by 47% between 2005 and 2009. With a growing number of states involved in the determent and disruption of attacks, there is a need to outline their human rights obligations when engaging in counter-piracy operations, so that suspected pirates are treated in accordance with international law. In addition, providing clarity to states regarding their responsibilities enables them to make informed decisions about whether, and how, to prosecute suspected pirates. Focusing on Somalia, this paper examines the piracy as situated within international law, while addressing the application of human rights treaties, and issues such as detention, right to asylum, non-refoulement, and the transfer of pirates to third parties. While ambiguity remains regarding the obligations of states dealing with suspected pirates, existing case law does provide some guidelines. However, other factors, such as political processes and expediency, have sometimes taken precedence over the protection and fulfilment of human rights. Details: Louisville, CO: One Earth Future Foundation, 2010. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper: Accessed August 26, 2011 at: http://oneearthfuture.org/images/imagefiles/Human%20Rights%20Law%20-%20Saoirse%20de%20Bont.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Somalia URL: http://oneearthfuture.org/images/imagefiles/Human%20Rights%20Law%20-%20Saoirse%20de%20Bont.pdf Shelf Number: 122508 Keywords: Human RightsMaritime CrimePirates/Piracy (Somalia)Prosecution |
Author: Adams, William Title: An Analysis of Federally Prosecuted CSEC Cases since the Passage of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act of 2000 Summary: This study examined the prosecution of the commercial sexual exploitation of children and youth (CSEC) in the United States. The research took the form of a national analysis of federal prosecutions since the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000, answering the following research questions: (1) Is the United States enforcing existing federal laws related to CSEC? (2) What are the key features of successfully prosecuted CSEC cases? (3) Have the U.S. courts increased penalties associated with sexual crimes against children? (4) What are the effects of CSEC legislation on service providers who work with victims? This assessment provides policy makers with a means of assessing the effects of legislation aimed at combating CSEC. Details: Washington, DC: Justice Policy Center, Urban Institute, 2008. 163p. Source: Final Report: Internet Resource: Accessed on January 27, 2012 at http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411813_CSEC_analysis.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United States URL: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411813_CSEC_analysis.pdf Shelf Number: 123832 Keywords: Commerical Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC)Human TraffickingProsecutionTrafficking in PersonsViolence |
Author: Travers, Harry, ed. Title: Serious Economic Crime: A boardroom guide to prevention and compliance Summary: In many ways this publication, with its contributions from both the public and private sector, and from a wide variety of expert sources, is emblematic of this new approach. Part I features chapters from a number of regulators and key bodies. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) describes the role it plays in prosecuting market abuse and insider dealing, while the chapter by the City of London Police highlights what can be achieved by domestic prosecution agencies working in partnership with equivalent agencies on a global scale. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) expands on the benefits of international co-operation, following closely the pioneering Oslo conference that brought governments, non-governmental organisations and business together in the fight against financial crime, while the World Bank outlines the historic 2010 agreement between multilateral development banks to adopt common definitions of fraud and due process and, crucially, to recognise and enforce debarment decisions of the other signatories. The chapter by Transparency International brings global perspectives on counter-corruption measures, and in a separate chapter the World Bank outlines its anti-corruption agenda. We hear also from the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) on the European Union approach to combating money laundering, while the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics introduces non-regulatory compliance solutions. Details: London: White Page Ltd, 2011. 312p. Source: White Paper: Internet Resource: Accessed on January 27, 2012 at http://www.seriouseconomiccrime.com/ebooks/Serious-Economic-Crime.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.seriouseconomiccrime.com/ebooks/Serious-Economic-Crime.pdf Shelf Number: 123833 Keywords: Business CommunityBusinesses and CrimeCorporate CrimeCriminal InvestigationsEconomic CrimeProsecution |
Author: Spohn, Cassia Title: Policing and Prosecuting Sexual Assault in Los Angeles City and County: A Collaborative Study in Partnership with the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office Summary: We use quantitative data on the outcomes of sexual assaults reported to the LAPD and the LASD, detailed quantitative and qualitative data from case files for a sample of cases reported to the two agencies, and interviews with detectives and with deputy district attorneys to pursue five objectives: 1) to document the extent of case attrition and to identify the stages of the criminal justice process where attrition is most likely to occur; 2) to identify the case complexities and evidentiary factors that affect the likelihood of attrition in sexual assault cases; 3) to identify the predictors of case outcomes in sexual assault cases; 4) to provide a comprehensive analysis of the factors that lead police to unfound the charges in sexual assault cases; and 5) to identify the situations in which sexual assault cases are being cleared by exceptional means. We also identify the themes that emerged from our interviews with officials in each agency and with sexual assault survivors. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 2012. 535p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 7, 2012 at https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/237582.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/237582.pdf Shelf Number: 124016 Keywords: Clearance RatesPolice InvestigationsPolice PerformanceProsecutionSexual Assault (Los Angeles) |
Author: Great Britain. Crown Prosecution Service. Title: Violence against Women and Girls Crime Report 2010-2011 Summary: We have changed the format of the 2010-11 VAWG report to reflect the move within the CPS to focus more on the quality of our prosecutions, moving away from assessing our prosecution outcomes solely by attrition rates. We no longer set targets, but focus more on the trend in prosecution performance locally in each Area, compared with the national average, alongside the quality of prosecutions. This report focuses more on an analysis of the key prosecution issues in each VAWG strand of crimes - domestic violence, rape, sexual offences, human trafficking, prostitution, forced marriage, honour based violence, female genital mutilation, child abuse and pornography. A number of case studies are used to illustrate some good practice from Areas. In line with government policy, we publish the underlying data used in our reports. The underlying data for this report can be found on the CPS website, in the Publications section under Equality and Diversity. VAWG VAWG continues to be a top priority for the CPS, as part of the cross government commitment to tackling VAWG, overseen by the Inter-Ministerial Group, including the Solicitor General and Attorney General representing the CPS. Since the introduction of the CPS VAWG strategy we have seen the volume of VAWG prosecutions rise year on year, from 68,930 in 2006-07 to 95,257 this year, a rise of 38%. Not only are we prosecuting more cases, but we are prosecuting those cases successfully - the volume of convictions rising by 52%, from 44,836 to 68,154. The proportion of charged defendants convicted has risen from 65% to 72% during that time. In 2010-11 alone there has been an 11% rise in the volume of both prosecutions and convictions. This is against an overall drop in the volume of cases heard at magistrates’ courts of 3.6% - where the majority of VAWG crimes are heard. The Core Quality Standards were introduced in 2010-11, including a new VAWG validation measure and assessment of a sample of rape cases. In January 2011 a specific qualitative VAWG Assurance system was set up – Areas report bi-annually to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on their VAWG performance, including detailed assessment of approximately 25% of their rape cases. The focus has moved from a centralist to a local assessment, with specified actions. Areas are supported by local VAWG coordinators, who advise on VAWG prosecutions. They work with local community groups through Hate Crime Scrutiny Panels and Community Involvement Panels, which were streamlined and rationalised in 2011 to establish Local Scrutiny and Involvement Panels. Victim issues identified through CPS in 2010-11 were integrated into work across government through the cross-government VAWG action plans and implementation of the Stern rape review. Details: Great Britain: Crown Prosecution Service, 2011. 64p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 12, 2012 at http://www.cps.gov.uk/victims_witnesses/bereaved_families_leaflet_2011_final.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.cps.gov.uk/victims_witnesses/bereaved_families_leaflet_2011_final.pdf Shelf Number: 124091 Keywords: Juvenile VictimsProsecutionViolence Against Women (U.K.) |
Author: Porter, Rachel Title: Choosing Performance Indicators for Your Community Prosecution Initiative Summary: This report was developed to aid prosecutors in their selection of performance indicators to monitor the effectiveness of community prosecution initiatives. Community prosecution is a broad term used to describe strategies other than traditional prosecution to address problems in the community, to improve interagency coordination, to make prosecution more efficient, and to expand the presence of prosecutors in the community. The report includes a table listing five potential goals of community prosecution program: community engagement, problem-solving, effective case administration, public safety, and interagency partnerships. Each goal is linked to a set of objectives that can be measured using performance indicators showing progress in achieving the desired goals. Performance indicators for community prosecution that have been identified in previous research include: 1) target problems, 2) geographic target area (which may, but is not always confined to specific neighborhoods), 3) role of community, 4) content of response to community problems, 5) organizational changes within prosecutor’s office, 6) case processing adaptations, and 7) interagency collaboration and partnerships. Performance indicators are quantitative in nature and should be able to answer a relatively straightforward yes or no question. The final section of the report briefly explains each of the five goals and its associated objectives. Details: Washington, DC: Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, 2011. 23p. Source: Prosecutor's Report II: Internet Resource: Accessed February 28, 2012 at http://www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/documents/Choosing_Performance_Indicators.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/documents/Choosing_Performance_Indicators.pdf Shelf Number: 124317 Keywords: Community CourtsCommunity PolicingPolice-Community Relations (New York)Prosecution |
Author: Rehavi, M. Marit Title: Racial Disparity in Federal Criminal Charging and Its Sentencing Consequences Summary: This paper assesses the extent to which the large disparities in sentencing outcomes between black and white defendants can be explained by disparities in prosecutors' initial choice of charges, a critical stage overlooked by existing studies of sentencing disparities. To analyze charging, we pair newly constructed measures of charge severity with a newly linked dataset that traces federal cases from the arrest through sentencing. We find that black arrestees, especially black males, face significantly more severe charges conditional on arrest offense and other observed characteristics. The disparities in the use of charges that carry mandatory minimum sentences are particularly striking. These disparities appear to be major drivers of sentencing disparity. Black males face significantly longer sentences than white males do, on average and at almost every decile of the sentence-length distribution, even after conditioning on arrest offense, criminal history, district, and age. However, the addition of controls for initial charges renders most of these disparities insignificant. Indeed, the otherwise-unexplained racial disparities at the mean and at most of the deciles can be almost entirely explained by disparities in a single prosecutorial decision: whether to file a charge carrying a mandatory minimum sentence. Details: Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Law School, 2012. 59p. Source: Internet Resource: U of Michigan Law & Econ, Empirical Legal Studies Center Paper No. 12-002: Accessed March 2, 2012 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1985377 Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1985377 Shelf Number: 124348 Keywords: ProsecutionProsecutorial DiscretionProsecutorsPunishmentRacial DisparitiesSentencing (U.S.) |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Title: International Framework for Action To Implement the Smuggling of Migrants Protocol Summary: While 129 States, to date, have ratified the United Nations Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, giving effect to the Protocol remains a challenge in all regions. Most countries do not have dedicated action plans or strategies. Most commonly, migrant smuggling is partially addressed through efforts to combat irregular migration, by strengthening border controls and through efforts undertaken against transnational organized crime. Where migrants are simply detained and returned to countries of origin without the smuggling actors involved in their migration being investigated, the criminal processes at work continue unchallenged. Where border controls are strengthened without addressing the root causes of irregular migration and demand for smuggling services, the modus operandi of smugglers will simply adapt. Where opportunities to safely and regularly migrate are not offered as part of a holistic response to migrant smuggling alongside measures to address root causes of irregular migration, the demand for migrant smuggling services will only increase. These considerations highlight the need to elaborate an International Framework for Action to implement the Smuggling of Migrants Protocol (Framework for Action) to harmonize and coordinate a holistic and global response to the phenomenon in countries of origin, transit and destination. The purpose of the Framework for Action is to assist Member States and non-state actors in identifying and addressing gaps in their response to migrant smuggling in accordance with international standards. The Framework for Action unpacks provisions of the Smuggling of Migrants Protocol, drawing upon international instruments, political commitments, guidelines and best practices to enable the implementation of a comprehensive response to migrant smuggling. The Framework for Action consists of a narrative section and a set of tables. The Narrative describes the key challenges in the implementation of the Migrant Smuggling Protocol and elaborates guiding principles in responding to them. The set of tables details practical measures that can be taken in response of four key pillars: i) Prosecution of migrant smugglers; ii) Protection of smuggled migrants and their rights; iii) Prevention of migrant smuggling; iv) Cooperation to address migrant smuggling. For each of the four pillars, the Framework for Action is divided into: Protocol Objectives, which reflect the provisions of the Smuggling of Migrants Protocol; Specific Objectives, which explain the intent of the provisions; Framework Requirements, setting out minimum standards for action; Implementation Measures, which offer best practices to achieve effective implementation; and Operational Indicators, to measure implementation and help monitor change over time. Details: Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), 2011. 176p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 23, 2012 at http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/Migrant-Smuggling/Framework_for_Action_Smuggling_of_Migrants.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/Migrant-Smuggling/Framework_for_Action_Smuggling_of_Migrants.pdf Shelf Number: 124722 Keywords: Crime PreventionHuman SmugglingInternational CooperationMigrant SmugglingProsecutionVictims Services |
Author: Kutateladze, Besiki Title: Do Race and Ethnicity Matter in Prosecution?: A Review of Empirical Summary: Vera’s Prosecution and Racial Justice Program (PRJ) conducted a review of 34 empirical studies on the relationship of race and ethnicity to prosecutorial decision making published between 1990 and 2011 in peer-reviewed journals. The literature review distills the research and provides a reference resource for a diverse audience—including academics, practitioners, and interested generalists—about the current state of the debate on these subjects. The aim of the literature review is to encourage additional empirical research on the relationship between race and prosecution by identifying areas that need further study; provide prosecutors and other criminal justice practitioners with a frame of reference in which to assess their own practices; and strengthen the general public’s understanding of the criminal justice system. Details: New York: Vera Institute of Justice, 2012. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 27, 2012 at: http://www.vera.org/files/race-and-ethnicity-in-prosecution-first-edition.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.vera.org/files/race-and-ethnicity-in-prosecution-first-edition.pdf Shelf Number: 125415 Keywords: ProsecutionRace/EthnicityRacial Disparities |
Author: Markoff, Gabriel H. Title: Arthur Andersen and the Myth of the Corporate Death Penalty: Corporate Criminal Convictions in the Twenty-First Century Summary: The conventional wisdom states that prosecuting corporations can subject them to terrible collateral consequences that risk putting them out of business and causing massive social and economic harm. Under this viewpoint, which has come to dominate the literature following the demise of Arthur Andersen after that firm’s prosecution in the wake of the Enron scandal, even a criminal indictment can be a “corporate death penalty.” The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has implicitly accepted this view by declining to prosecute many large companies in favor of using criminal settlements called deferred prosecution agreements, or “DPAs.” Yet, there is no evidence to support the existence of the “Andersen Effect” and the much-hyped corporate death penalty. Indeed, no one has ever empirically studied what happens to companies after conviction. In this Article, I do just that. Using the database of organizational convictions made publicly available by Professor Brandon Garrett, I find that no publicly traded company failed because of a conviction in the years 2001–2010. Moreover, many convictions included plea agreements imposing compliance programs that advocates have pointed to as a key justification for using DPAs. Because corporate convictions do not have the terrible consequences they were assumed to have, and because they can be used to obtain compliance programs just as DPAs can, the DOJ should prosecute more lawbreaking companies and reserve DPAs for extraordinary circumstances. In the absence of some other justification for using DPAs, the DOJ should exploit the stronger deterrent value of corporate prosecution to its full capacity. Details: Social Science Research Network, 2012. 47p. Source: Working Paper: Internet Resource: Accessed September 13, 2012 at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID2143925_code1710157.pdf?abstractid=2132242&mirid=1 Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID2143925_code1710157.pdf?abstractid=2132242&mirid=1 Shelf Number: 126343 Keywords: ConvictionsCorporate CrimeCorporate Death PenaltyProsecutionWhite-Collar Crime |
Author: Hui, Freda Title: Centrelink Prosecutions at the Employment/Benefit Nexus: A Case Study of Wollongong Summary: This report examines financial and social issues pertaining to Centrelink prosecutions for overpayments of unemployment‐related social security benefits. Specifically, it examines the circumstances of prosecutions of those returning to work, and those in precarious casual employment. A sample of overpayment prosecutions in the Wollongong area of New South Wales from July 2008 to June 2010 is profiled and analysed. Details: Wollongong, Australia: Social Accounting and Accountability Research Centre (SAARC), 2011. 70p. Source: Faculty of Commerce - Papers: Internet Resource: Accessed September 13, 2012 at http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1992&context=commpapers&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dcentrelink%2520prosecutions%2520at%2520the%2520employment%252Fbenefit%2520nexus%253A%2520a%2520case%2520study%2520of%2520wollongong%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D1%26ved%3D0CCIQFjAA%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fro.uow.edu.au%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1992%2526context%253Dcommpapers%26ei%3DrXpSUNTLFoXK9QS1oIDwDw%26usg%3DAFQjCNFLIuWVgjB15ftY6exRNJu1KPIZPw#search=%22centrelink%20prosecutions%20employment%2Fbenefit%20nexus%3A%20case%20study%20wollongong%22 Year: 2011 Country: Australia URL: http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1992&context=commpapers&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dcentrelink%2520prosecutions%2520at%2520the%2520employment%252Fbenefit%252 Shelf Number: 126345 Keywords: Costs of CrimeDiffusion of BenefitsProsecutionUnemployment and Crime |
Author: Shalom, Alexander Title: Trial and Error: A Comprehensive Study of Prosecutorial Conduct in New Jersey Summary: A comprehensive study of prosecutor error released today by the ACLU-NJ and Rutgers School of Law-Newark found low rates of errors but an alarming lack of accountability or regular training to prevent repeat lapses by New Jersey prosecutors. The report, titled “Trial and Error: A Comprehensive Study of Prosecutorial Conduct in New Jersey,” recommends changes at the state and county level and reveals a noteworthy range of error rates in individual New Jersey counties in the process. “Prosecutors have a heavy responsibility as representatives of the state, and most take their obligations extremely seriously,” said ACLU-NJ Policy Counsel Alexander Shalom, one of the authors of the report. “Because prosecutors are largely immune from civil liability, and because they represent the government’s authority, it’s both more difficult and critical to hold them accountable for mistakes that interfere with a fair trial. Without a way to hold prosecutors accountable for all but the most outrageous violations, New Jersey leaves too many opportunities for justice to slip through the cracks.” The report examined allegations of error raised on appeal in the state between 2005 and 2011, and tracked the number of case decisions reversed based on prosecutorial error and the discipline they faced if they committed multiple errors. Prosecutorial error covers a range of actions, including failure to disclose exculpatory evidence, making improper remarks to the jury, or appealing to emotion rather than facts. Most errors, according to the report, occur during summations. The report found that of the 343 prosecutors accused of committing error, not one – including the 30 prosecutors who were found to have committed multiple errors – received discipline for in-court behavior. This is a stark contrast to the discipline that other types of attorneys receive for errors. The report also revealed that the state of New Jersey has no functional system for identifying, disciplining or eliminating prosecutor error except in the most egregious cases. The report found surprising disparities in New Jersey’s counties. Warren County, for example, represented only 1.4 percent of the state’s convictions but had 5.7 percent of its harmful errors. Camden County, however, had 6.2 percent of the state’s convictions but only 3.1 percent of total errors, as well as no reversed convictions. The authors recommend mandatory reporting of error, which is only optional under the current system, making it harder for disciplinary boards to collect enough information to determine when sanctions would be appropriate. This is especially problematic in cases of serious or repeated error that do not amount to an ethical lapse. The report also recommends heightened training, supervision and discipline within prosecutors’ offices. The authors also determined that, in order to provide prosecutors with maximum guidance, courts should determine whether conduct constitutes error in every case in which the issue is raised. Defense attorneys, as well, have an important role in preventing prosecutorial error in the form of objecting during the trial. Details: Newark, NJ: American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, 2012. 44p., app. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 21, 2012 at: http://www.aclu-nj.org/files/3213/4815/6942/ACLU-NJ_Pros_Cond_BW.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.aclu-nj.org/files/3213/4815/6942/ACLU-NJ_Pros_Cond_BW.pdf Shelf Number: 126400 Keywords: ProsecutionProsecutorial MisconductProsecutors (New Jersey, U.S.)Trials |
Author: American Prosecutor's Research Institute Title: A Local Prosecutor's Guide for Responding to Hate Crimes Summary: The United States has long been a “melting pot” society, to which people of different ethnic groups and races, from many diverse cultures and countries, have come. They and their children have become Americans, to form this unique and unified nation. Yet throughout our history these distinctions have fostered bias, prejudice, and hatred by some people— manifested in the form of harassment, intimidation, and bias-motivated crimes. Bias- or hate-motivated incidents and crimes can have a serious impact not only on the victim but also on those who share his or her characteristics because they have been singled out as a result of inherent characteristics and robbed of self-esteem. The deep psychological impact of hate crimes causes terror among victims and victimized groups, distrust of the criminal justice system and its ability to protect against hate crimes, and the potential for retaliatory crimes against the offender or the group the offender represents. Criminologically, hate crimes are regarded by some as a more severe offense than non bias-motivated offenses. Compared to other crimes in general, bias-motivated crimes are more likely to: • Be directed against persons as opposed to property; • Involve injury to victims; • Involve multiple offenders; • Involve serial victimizations; and • Go unsolved. For these reasons, hate crimes must be addressed in a manner that takes into account the seriousness of the offenses and their impact on victims/victimized groups and that serves to stop biased attitudes and beliefs from escalating into crimes. Details: Alexandria, VA: APRI, 2003. 59p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 27, 2012 at: http://www.ndaa.org/pdf/hate_crimes.pdf Year: 2003 Country: United States URL: http://www.ndaa.org/pdf/hate_crimes.pdf Shelf Number: 126474 Keywords: Bias-Motivated CrimesHate CrimesProsecutionProsecutors |
Author: Stewart, James G. Title: A Pragmatic Critique of Corporate Criminal Theory: Atrocity, Commerce and Accountability Summary: Corporate criminal liability is a controversial beast. To a large extent, the controversies surround three core questions: first, whether there is a basic conceptual justification for using a system of criminal justice constructed for individuals against inanimate entities like corporations; second, what value corporate criminal liability could have given coexistent possibilities of civil redress against them; and third, whether corporate criminal liability has any added value over and above individual criminal responsibility of corporate officers. In this paper, I use examples from the frontiers of international criminal justice to criticize all sides of these debates. In particular, I harness the latent possibility of prosecuting corporate actors for the pillage of natural resources and for complicity through the supply of weapons, to highlight the shortcomings of corporate criminal theory to date. Throughout, I draw on principles derived from philosophical and legal pragmatism to reveal a set of recurring analytical flaws in this literature. These include: a tendency to presuppose a perfect single jurisdiction that overlooks globalization, the blind projection of local theories of corporate criminal responsibility onto global corporate practices; and a perspective that sometimes seems insensitive to the plight of the many who have fallen victim to corporate crime in the developing world. To begin anew, we need to embrace a pragmatic theory of corporate criminal liability that is forced upon us in a world as complex, unequal, and dysfunctional as that we presently inhabit. Details: Vancouver, British Columbia: UBC Faculty of Law, 2012. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 15, 2012 at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2152682 Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2152682 Shelf Number: 126742 Keywords: Corporate CrimeDestruction and PillageOffenses Against the EnvironmentProsecutionTheft of Natural Resources |
Author: Great Britain. Crown Prosecution Service Title: Violence against Women and Girls Crime Report: 2011-2012 Summary: This CPS Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Crime Report is the fifth edition published by the CPS. As in previous years, it covers a range of VAWG strands: • domestic violence • rape and sexual offences • human trafficking, with a focus on trafficking for sexual exploitation • prostitution, • forced marriage, honour based violence and female genital mutilation • child abuse • pornography. The report provides data and commentary in separate sections on each of the VAWG strands, including a number of case studies and good practice. Key issues that were identified in 2011-12 have been highlighted within each section and may differ according to strands. The CPS collects data14 to assist in the effective management of its prosecution functions. The CPS does not collect data which constitutes official statistics as defined in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 200715. Equality profiles of defendants, by gender and ethnicity, are assessed and reported on in this report. Data on victims are reported where available and are still under further development. Details: London: Crown Prosecution Services, 2012. 67p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 5, 2012 at: http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/docs/cps_vawg_report_2012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/docs/cps_vawg_report_2012.pdf Shelf Number: 126876 Keywords: Child AbuseDomestic ViolenceHonor-Based ViolenceHuman TraffickingPornographyProsecutionProstitutionRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women and Girls (U.K.) |
Author: Hudson, Andrew Title: Baseless Prosecutions of Human Rights Defenders in Colombia: In the Dock and Under the Gun Summary: In a criminal justice system plagued by impunity, the tenacity with which Colombian prosecutors pursue human rights defenders for supposed crimes is striking. While corruption and arbitrary actions are a systemic problem throughout the judicial system, those who peacefully promote human rights are singled out for particular intimidation through baseless investigations and prosecutions. Unfounded charges are often widely publicized, undermining the credibility of defenders and marking them as targets for physical attack, often by paramilitary groups. While defenders are not alone in being subjected to false investigations, their persecution is distinctive due to the nature of the charges and the methods of collecting, and falsifying, evidence. They are usually accused of rebellion and membership in a guerrilla organization. By the time defenders are illegally detained, they have often been investigated in secret for many months or even years. Two of the hallmarks distinctive to defenders’ cases are the use of false testimony from ex-combatants and of inadmissible intelligence files. Charges are typically based on spurious allegations by ex-guerrillas whose testimony has been coerced or coached by regional prosecutors. Armed with such erroneous evidence, which is objectively inadequate to initiate an investigation, prosecutors and others publicly pre-judge the defendants, stigmatizing defenders as terrorists. Because defenders are singled out for this type of persecution, solutions that focus specifically on defenders are needed. The steadfast investigation of spurious criminal complaints against defenders stands in stark contrast to the failure to investigate attacks, threats, and other forms of intimidation perpetrated against them or against civilians more generally. The Colombian state also fails to prosecute or otherwise discipline judicial officials who instigate such specious prosecutions. Human rights defenders in Colombia play a legitimate and essential role in protecting basic rights and strengthening democratic institutions. Charges against them are often politically motivated and intended primarily to discredit and stigmatize them individually and as a class. Unfounded criminal charges are damaging in many ways: The stigmatization of defenders as terrorist sympathizers places them at considerable risk of reprisal and death threats by paramilitaries or others; The proceedings force defenders to expend time and resources defending themselves, diminishing their capacity to perform productive human rights work; The charges discredit defenders and tarnish their reputations as legitimate human rights activists; and The threat of political prosecution has a chilling effect, encouraging defenders to practice selfcensorship and limit their activities. In relation to Colombia, the U.N. Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders has stated that such “proceedings are part of a strategy to silence human rights defenders.”3 Despite increasing attention to the issue, in the absence of a detailed study, some Colombian officials refuse to acknowledge that there is a widespread problem. Human Rights First has spent more than a year researching and documenting 32 cases of unfounded prosecutions against defenders. Analysis of primary materials such as interviews with defenders, defense briefs, prosecutors’ resolutions, and judicial sentences reveal the spurious nature of these criminal investigations. For the first time, this report reveals a positive development: prosecutors and judges all over Colombia are recognizing the existence of malicious prosecutions against defenders. However, it is not enough to identify the problem or to mitigate its effects after damage has been done. There must be fundamental changes in the justice system. As a major supporter of judicial reform in Colombia, the United States can play a constructive role in combating malicious prosecutions of human rights defenders. It is clearly in the interests of the United States to have a vibrant civil society in Colombia, which can freely express ideas and strengthen respect for the rule of law. Based on an analysis of 32 cases and extensive interviews with government officials and human rights defenders, Human Rights First makes concluding recommendations. Details: New York: Human Rights First, 2009. 63p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 1, 2012 at: http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf/090211-HRD-colombia-eng.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Colombia URL: http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf/090211-HRD-colombia-eng.pdf Shelf Number: 127048 Keywords: False AccusationsHuman Rights Defenders (Colombia)Judicial SystemPolitical CorruptionProsecution |
Author: Levitt, Alison Title: Charging Perverting the Course of Justice and Wasting Police Time in Cases Involving Alledgedly False Rape and Domestic Violence Allegations Summary: The Crown Prosecution Service has come a long way in dealing with cases involving violence against women and girls (VAWG). In the last year (2011-12) we have seen the conviction rate rise to 73%, delivering the lowest attrition rates ever recorded. This report is the product of the first ever study, by the Crown Prosecution Service, of the number and nature of cases involving allegedly false allegations of rape or domestic violence, or both. This is in many ways a trailblazing report, the first time we have clear evidence about the prosecution of this important issue. The report outlines the key findings of that review and the steps that we plan to take in response. In recent years both the police and prosecutors have put a great deal of effort into improving the way we investigate and prosecute sexual offences. The results of the changes and improvements which have been made are encouraging. Our committed and specialist staff have prioritised performance in these important and difficult cases. We have bolstered training, policies and guidance for rape and domestic violence specialists. Closer working with the police and specialist services has helped to address the types of ingrained practices which can ignore, or even add to, the victimisation of women and girls. We are not complacent, however, and in particular, events over the last 12 months show that there is still more that we must do to improve. In recent years we have worked hard to dispel the damaging myths and stereotypes which are associated with these cases. One such misplaced belief is that false allegations of rape and domestic violence are rife. This report presents a more accurate picture. Details: London: Crown Prosecution Service, 2013. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 9, 2013 at: http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/research/perverting_course_of_justice_march_2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/research/perverting_course_of_justice_march_2013.pdf Shelf Number: 128332 Keywords: Domestic ViolenceFalse Allegations (U.K.)ProsecutionRape |
Author: Fanning, L. Title: Dalhousie Marine Piracy Project: Legal, Institutional and Governance Arrangements for Apprehending and Prosecuting Marine Pirates Summary: Under the broader mandate of the DMPP, the Law and Governance Module is investigating three (3) major themes that focus on the origins and manifestations of piracy; the apprehension of piracy; and the prosecution of piracy. This Report is a key output from the first phase of the project which primarily utilized desk top research conducted between June 2011 and February 2012. Its main purpose is to serve as a discussion piece for the DMPP external Law and Governance Module working group members. It is anticipated that working group members will critically review the context and analysis of the report for accuracy and omissions, identify priority areas for attention, identify areas for further research and recommend draft policy options anticipated to address issues surrounding the law and governance aspects of contemporary marine piracy. For ease of reference and additional insight, the Report offers some key discussion points within its sections and conclusion. Whilst by no means exhaustive, the research analysis reflected herein is geared towards answering four major research questions pertaining to: 1) The current legal and institutional arrangements for addressing piracy; 2) The current legal regime dealing with the apprehension, prosecution and incarceration of pirates; 3) The legal status of pirates, child pirates, suspect pirates, organizers and their backers; and, 4) The governance conditions that allow piracy to gain a foothold. The discussions provide an interpretive outline of the three major formulations or definitions of piracy found within international law, a summary of the national approaches taken by States to incorporate those definitions in their national laws dealing with the suppression of crime at sea; and examine how the DMPP-formulated definition complies with current legal practices. While a plethora of arrangements exist that both directly and indirectly have a role in addressing piracy, the Report also highlights the key arrangements for coordinating and organizing the fight against piracy at the international, regional and other institutional/organizational levels. Given the role of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as the leading multilateral agency tasked with addressing the issue of piracy, the DMPP Law and Governance team undertook a preliminary analysis to assess the effectiveness of that role in light of the serious issues and challenges presented by the current scale of piracy off the East Coast of Africa, and elsewhere in the world. Drawing upon several insightful interpretations of the rights, duties and obligations of states in the investigation, apprehension and prosecution of suspect pirates, the resulting analysis concluded that the legal regime and mechanisms employed to date have not been without its challenges and difficulties. In addition to national courts, several other avenues have been recommended and analyzed, whether they are applicable for prosecuting those found committing or attempting to commit acts of piracy, including those involved in piracy operations, more particularly piracy backers, organizers and financiers. Emphasis has also been placed on those who use Hawala and other value transfer systems to facilitate the movement of funds to aid piracy operations, those who seek to employ children as pirates and those who may be proven guilty of participating in transnational organized crime, or in extreme cases, crimes against humanity. Special consideration was also given to the status and rights of the child, prosecution of young offenders and the problems with returning a child to the worst forms of labor. In deliberating on the dominant conditions that have seemingly allowed piracy to gain a foothold particularly within the East African region (Horn of Africa), some structural indicators evident within functional/strong states were examined as the basis for analyzing the influence of failed states and to some extent, weak states, on maritime piracy operations. Additionally, analysis of the current literature undertaken for this project suggests that the effectiveness of existing governance regimes at the national, regional and international levels are inextricably linked to the root causes of piracy. Similarly, the linkages between and among relevant institutional arrangements in terms of their functionalities and the process for ensuring data and information, analysis and advice are provided to guide decision-making at national, regional and international levels need to be determined and where necessary, strengthened. From a governance effectiveness perspective, it is evident that there is a broad array of policy actors who are engaged in addressing the problem of marine piracy. As such, the DMPP research has highlighted that considerable emphasis should be placed by scholars, practitioners and decision-makers on the need to understand and address marine piracy at multiple jurisdictional levels. Before concluding, the Report discusses the initial efforts of the DMPP to develop a generalized predictive model that would provide the global maritime community with a preliminary decision-support tool aimed at anticipating potential piracy ‘hot spots’. The development of this predictive model draws upon the research conducted by all three of the DMPP modules and identifies the socioeconomic, governance, legal and other relevant precursors to the outbreak of contemporary piracy. The policy implications of such a tool are widespread as it can provide the incentives needed for targeted pre-emptive responses to be structured and focused before the problem becomes manifest. Most significantly, it has the potential to modify and enhance governance regimes in areas flagged as potentially susceptible to piracy and more than likely (to experience piracy activity in the near future), with the potential for other global, regional and national security-related risks. Details: Halifax, Nova Scotia: Dalhousie University, 2012. 139p. Source: Internet Resource: Marine Affairs Program Technical Report #2: Accessed May 21, 2013 at: http://marineaffairsprogram.dal.ca/Files/MAP_Technical_Report_%232.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://marineaffairsprogram.dal.ca/Files/MAP_Technical_Report_%232.pdf Shelf Number: 128769 Keywords: Maritime CrimesMaritime SecurityPiracy/PiratesProsecution |
Author: Criminal Justice Alliance Title: Prosecuting Young Adults: The potential for taking account of maturity at the charge and prosecution stage of the criminal justice system Summary: The Criminal Justice Alliance has produced a paper, funded by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, looking at the Crown Prosecution Service and prosecuting young adults. The CPS published a new Code, which for the first time explicitly included taking the maturity of an individual into account as part of the 'public interest test', alongside other more established factors such as learning difficulties and mental health problems. This development represents a new opportunity for prosecutors to more explicitly and transparently consider the maturity of young adults, as is currently the case within the youth justice system. This research study investigates how the inclusion of the concept of maturity will work in practice, using the expertise of prosecutors to help us to understand how the concept of maturity is currently applied within the youth justice system and what lessons can be learnt to ensure the successful implementation for young adults. The document is available here. Details: London: Criminal Justice Alliance, 2013. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 31, 2014 at: http://criminaljusticealliance.org/cps&maturity.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://criminaljusticealliance.org/cps&maturity.pdf Shelf Number: 132031 Keywords: Juvenile Justice ReformMaturityProsecutionYoung Adult Offenders |
Author: Klein, Susan R. Title: Why Federal Prosecutors Charge: A Comparison of Federal and New York State Arson and Robbery Filings, 2006-2010 Summary: Academic, judges, lobbyists, special interest groups, and the defense bar all love to complain about the undue discretion held by federal prosecutors. Criticism has intensified over the last few decades, as the federal criminal code has grown to more than 4,500 prohibitions, a fair number of which replicate nearly identical state offenses. Little empirical evidence, however, attempts to discern what, if anything, is distinctive about the cases charged in federal rather than state court, and what might be motivating federal prosecutors to make their charging decisions. Our study aims to shed some light on this subject. In Part II, we describe our efforts to collect data on the characteristics of cases prosecuted under arson and robbery statutes from three sources: (1) the United States Sentencing Commission ("USSC"); (2) the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services ("DCJS"); and (3) Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports. In Part III, we explain how we combined the USSC and New York State DCJS data before proceeding to our empirical analysis. First, we conduct a simple, bivariate analysis comparing the frequency with which our independent variables are observed in federal versus state arson and robbery cases. We note where we believe the observed, bivariate relationship is likely explained by confounding variables. Second, we proceed to utilize a more sophisticated logistic regression model to simultaneously examine the effect of our independent variables on the choice between federal versus state prosecution for arson and robbery. We find statistically significant evidence that cases prosecuted under federal arson and robbery statutes are more likely to include circumstances such as a conspiracy, a minor victim, use of a weapon, and serious recidivism. In Part IV, we conclude by discussing the higher plea rates and longer sentences imposed under federal as opposed to state criminal justice systems. We argue that where crimes involve the above-noted more egregious circumstances, federal prosecutors are more likely motived to prosecute the crime in expectation of a likely guilty plea and longer sentence. Our study provides much needed empirical evidence to support this rational view of federal prosecutorial discretion. Details: Austin, TX: University of Texas School of Law, 2014. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: U of Texas Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 557 : Accessed April 22, 2014 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2422582 Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2422582 Shelf Number: 132116 Keywords: ArsonistsProsecutionProsecutorial DiscretionPunishmentRobberySentencing |
Author: Title: Venezuela: Dangerous Inertia Summary: The streets of Venezuela's major cities are now largely calm, following several months of violent clashes between opposition demonstrators, security forces and civilian gunmen that left more than 40 dead. The crisis, however, is not over. The opposition is demanding freedom for several dozen activists jailed during the unrest and an end to the threat of prosecution against more than 2,000. The underlying causes have not been addressed, and calls to restore autonomy and independence to the justice system and other key institutions have not been heeded. Living standards continue to decline due to economic recession; violent crime remains at record levels, and labour unrest and protests over poor-quality public services are often dealt with harshly. Greater international efforts are required to bring the sides back to the negotiating table, since the alternative to dialogue is likely to be further violence sooner or later. Talks between the government and leaders of the opposition Democratic Unity (MUD) alliance, facilitated by the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Vatican broke down in May 2014, when the MUD announced a "freeze" on its participation, citing repression of student protesters. The internal dissent faced by the MUD - whose executive secretary and deputy executive secretary recently resigned - and the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) has further complicated returning the parties to negotiations. The UNASUR foreign ministers charged with accompanying the process (from Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador) have not formally met with them since shortly after the talks broke down. It remains important for the international community to play a role in facilitating the political dialogue and to suggest avenues for agreement on pending tasks. The recent appointment of a new UNASUR Secretary General should provide a renewed impetus. Furthermore, this regional organisation would greatly benefit from technical and political support from the UN system, which has much greater experience of advising on public policies and legal reforms, as it did in Venezuela in 2002. This assistance might initially focus, for example, on reinforcing the capacity of UNASUR to produce analysis and policy recommendations and, at a later stage, on helping to design a credible framework for talks. Both sides, as well as Venezuelan society at large, would benefit. The opposition clearly requires an impartial observer, able to offer reassurances, while the government would benefit by bringing in credible external actors, such as UNASUR, to bolster it in some of the difficult decisions it faces. The most urgent of the pending tasks is to complete the appointment of respected, independent figures to the Supreme Court (TSJ), the electoral authority (CNE) and other constitutionally autonomous state bodies - a process that received a boost from the initial round of talks but now threatens to become bogged down. With the government's popularity suffering in the crisis, the need for autonomous institutions capable of fulfilling their constitutional roles is becoming ever more critical. As Crisis Group has argued since May, the international community - particularly UNASUR but including also the UN system - needs to: - press both sides to agree on a concise, viable timeframe and a trustworthy mechanism for appointing new members of the key rule-of-law institutions; - urge the government to release those detained for non-violent political protest; - call on the opposition to reassert and act on its commitment to resort exclusively to constitutional channels; and - redouble, through UNASUR and with the assistance of the UN system, efforts to help Venezuela move beyond its current polarisation in order to promote democracy, human rights and stability in a country still very much in crisis. Details: Caracas/Bogota/Brussels: International Crisis Group, 2014. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Latin America Briefing No. 31: Accessed September 23, 2014 at: http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/latin-america/venezuela/b031-venezuela-dangerous-inertia.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Venezuela URL: http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/latin-america/venezuela/b031-venezuela-dangerous-inertia.pdf Shelf Number: 133386 Keywords: Court SystemHuman RightsJustice System (Venezuela)ProsecutionViolent Crime |
Author: Anderson, James M. Title: The Changing Role of Criminal Law in Controlling Corporate Behavior Summary: What should be the role of the criminal law in controlling corporate behavior, and how can the execution of that role be improved? On the one hand, corporations have enormous power, and, when a corporation causes harm, there is a natural instinct to apply criminal sanctions, society's most serious expression of moral disapproval. In the wake of a harm in which a corporation had a prominent role, there are often calls for an increased use of the criminal law to tame corporate excesses. On the other hand, criminal liability has historically usually required criminal intent, a concept that applies oddly to a legal construction, such as a corporation. And more recently, critics have decried what they have termed the overcriminalization of corporate behavior, suggesting that there has been an overreliance on the use of criminal law in this context. To provide guidance to policymakers on the proper role of criminal sanctions in this context, RAND Corporation researchers (1) measure the current use of criminal sanctions in controlling corporate behavior, (2) describe how the current regime developed, and (3) offer suggestions about how the use of criminal sanctions to control corporate behavior might be improved. Key Findings There Is Mixed Evidence About the Changing Role of Criminal Law in Regulating and Controlling Corporate Activity - With the exceptions of the application of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the number of criminal prosecutions of corporations has declined in recent years, suggesting less formal prosecutorial activity rather than more. However, use of deferred-prosecution agreements (DPAs), non-prosecution agreements (NPAs), and debarment activity has increased sharply, suggesting that the threat of criminal action is still playing an important role in controlling behavior in this context. Recommendations - Recognize that criminal sanctions in this context are instrumental tools and not moral judgments. Lawmakers should be reluctant to pass statutes that punish without proof of criminal intent, courts should be reluctant to interpret statutes in ways that ignore criminal intent, and prosecutors should bring such prosecutions sparingly. - Have judges review deferred-prosecution and non-prosecution agreements. This practice would provide some assurance that the agreements are genuinely in the public interest and might allow third parties affected by the agreements to air their objections in a neutral forum. Policymakers should give serious consideration to requiring that every DPA and NPA be reviewed by an appropriate federal judge. This practice would provide additional transparency and reassure the public that justice was being served. - Carefully review debarment provisions. Debarment decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis by the relevant governmental agency, depending on the severity of the allegations made and their relevance to the domain of the governmental entity. - Consider substituting the use of civil sanctions. In many cases, civil sanctions that include formal fact-finding might function as well as or better than criminal sanctions. Details: Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2014. 146p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 9, 2015 at: http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR412.html Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR412.html Shelf Number: 134766 Keywords: Civil SanctionsCorporate Crime (U.S.)Criminal Law Criminal SanctionsProsecutionSarbanes-Oxley ActWhite Collar Crime |
Author: Walsh, Wendy A. Title: Sexting: When are State Prosecutors Deciding to Prosecute? The Third National Juvenile Online Victimization Study Summary: The majority of state prosecutors (62%) in the sample that had worked on technology facilitated crimes against children had handled a sexting case involving juveniles, and 36% of prosecutors in the sample reported that they had ever filed charges in these cases. When charges were filed, the majority charged child pornography production felonies and 16% of prosecutors had sexting cases that resulted in the defendant being sentenced to sex offender registration. Research needs to continue to help prosecutors develop tools and strategies to deal with these complex crimes. Details: Durham, NH: Crime Against Children Research Center, 2013. 4p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 20, 2015 at: http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV294_Walsh_Sexting%20&%20prosecution_2-6-13.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV294_Walsh_Sexting%20&%20prosecution_2-6-13.pdf Shelf Number: 135733 Keywords: Child PornographyChild Sexual AbuseOnline VictimizationProsecutionSex OffendersSexting |
Author: George, Christine C. Title: An Evaluation of the Cook County States Attorneys Office Deferred Prosecution Program Summary: The study looks at the development, implementation, and impact of the Cook County State Attorneys' Deferred Prosecution Program (DPP). Researchers used a mixed methodological approach involving qualitative and quantitative methods including a quasi-experimental design to measure outcomes. Following we summarize the program model, key findings and recommendations. The DPP Model The model is predicated on an ongoing operational collaboration of the State's Attorney's Office with the Cook County First Municipal District Judicial Circuit Court, the Department of Probation Pre-Trial Services Division, and TASC, all of which have key operational roles in the DPP model. The Assistant State's Attorneys (ASA) at various Cook County Branch Courts identify potential candidates, first time non-violent felony offenders, before preliminary hearings are conducted. If victims agree and DPP candidates accept the 12-month program offer, the preliminary hearing is waived and the case is transferred to the DPP program. The low demand program requirements includes regular court appearances in a DPP branch court, assessment, monthly meeting with pre-trial services officer, meeting of certain conditions, dependent on their particular offense and their educational and employment status and not reoffending. Upon successful completion of the program, the felony charge is dismissed by the SAO, exercising its prosecutorial discretion and the participant can then have his or her record expunged. Details: Chicago: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, 2015. 102p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 15, 2015 at: http://www.icjia.state.il.us/public/pdf/ResearchReports/Cook_County_Deferred_Prosecution_Evaluation_0715.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://www.icjia.state.il.us/public/pdf/ResearchReports/Cook_County_Deferred_Prosecution_Evaluation_0715.pdf Shelf Number: 136063 Keywords: Criminal CourtsPretrial Services ProsecutionProsecutorial Discretion |
Author: Boyne, Shawn Marie Title: Juvenile Justice in Germany Summary: In this article, I trace the emergence of diverse models of juvenile prosecution practice in Germany and show how those models reflect local and regional attitudes towards the character of juvenile crime. The evolution of distinct local practices poses an intriguing challenge to a key underlying premise in the German criminal justice system-namely that prosecutorial decision-making is objective, impartial, and grounded in neutral legal standards which are impervious to political influence. To set the stage for this inquiry, I begin by laying out the basic framework of German juvenile law and the ambit of discretion which it permits. I then explore the actual patterns of juvenile criminality and punishment using published statistical reports. In the chapter's core, I delve into prosecutors' perceptions of the purposes of juvenile crime and actual sanctioning practices. This includes a discussion of decision making norms. Finally, the article details the aims and practices of newly developed fast-track programs and innovative "repeat offender" units established in some German cities. In the framework of that discussion I show how the latitude inherent in the law as well as the structure of management controls and workload pressures empower prosecution offices with the latitude to tailor prosecution policies to respond to community and political pressures Details: Indianapolis: Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, 2015. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law Research Paper No. 2015-28 : Accessed August 14, 2015 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2608878 Year: 2015 Country: Germany URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2608878 Shelf Number: 136425 Keywords: Juvenile OffendersProsecutionProsecutorsRepeat Offenders |
Author: Bies, Katherine J. Title: Stuck in the '70s: The Demographics of California Prosecutors Summary: Recent events have renewed longstanding concerns about the treatment of racial minorities by the criminal justice system in California and throughout the United States. Part of that attention has focused on prosecutors, the gatekeepers to the criminal justice system and, in many ways, the system's most powerful officials. Nationwide protests followed failures by prosecutors last year to secure indictments against White police officers implicated in the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, two unarmed Black men, in Ferguson, Missouri, and Staten Island, New York. Those protests in turn prompted President Obama to remind the country of our legal system's "long history of discrimination." Considerable attention was also drawn to the decision in May of this year by the State's Attorney in Baltimore, Maryland to file charges against six police officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old Black man arrested for what the police alleged was an illegal knife, while Gray was in custody. Prosecutors determine who is criminally charged, what they are charged with, what sentence will be sought, and what concessions, if any, will be offered in exchange for a guilty plea. Particularly in cases that do not proceed to trial-which are the vast majority of all criminal cases-the prosecutor's decisions effectively determine the outcome. Prosecutors also set broad policies for the criminal justice system, deciding which laws will be enforced aggressively and which will not, helping to convince other law enforcement officials how to pursue their missions, and often setting the agenda for public debates about criminal justice. The District Attorneys in Ferguson and on Staten Island were White men; the State's Attorney in Baltimore was a Black woman. It is impossible to know what role those facts played in their charging decisions, but the race and gender of the lead prosecutors understandably received considerable attention. Because prosecutors hold so much power and exercise so much discretion, it is cause for concern if they do not reflect the diversity of the public. Thus, one of the many questions raised by the Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Freddie Gray cases is: How representative are prosecutors of the communities that they serve?" In California, the answer is "not very." In 2014 Latinos surpassed Whites as the largest demographic group in California. Whites comprise slightly more than 38 percent of the population in California, but they are nearly 70 percent of California prosecutors. Latinos are almost 39 percent of the population but only nine percent of California prosecutors. The last time 70 percent of Californians were White was in 1977-the year that Jimmy Carter became President of the United States, Apple Computer was. Demographically speaking, California prosecutors are stuck in the '70s. Details: Stanford, CA: Stanford Criminal Justice Center, Stanford Law School, 2015. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 26, 2015 at: http://law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Stuck-in-the-70s-Final-Report.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Stuck-in-the-70s-Final-Report.pdf Shelf Number: 137057 Keywords: DiscriminationMinority GroupsProsecutionProsecutorial DiscretionProsecutorsRacial Disparities |
Author: Ball, W. David Title: The New Normal? Prosecutorial Charging in California After Public Safety Realignment Summary: On April 4, 2011, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 109, the 2011 Public Safety Realignment Act ("Realignment" or "AB 109"), into law. AB 109 was one response to the 2009 Three-Judge Court Order for California to significantly reduce its prison population to 110,000 people, or 137.5% of design capacity, by year-end 2013. Affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011 in Brown v. Plata, the Three-Judge Court Order determined prison overcrowding to be "the primary cause of the state's unconstitutional failure to provide adequate medical and mental health care to California prisoners," concluding that population reduction was the most narrowly drawn, least intrusive remedy. Realignment shifts the responsibility of supervising, tracking and imprisoning specified non-serious, non-violent, non-sexual ("triple-nons" or "N3 felonies" or "non-non-nons") offenders previously bound for state prison to county jails and probation (see Overview of Public Safety Realignment. The law states that "the purpose of justice reinvestment is to manage and allocate criminal justice populations more cost-effectively, generating savings that can be reinvested in evidence-based strategies that increase public safety while holding offenders accountable." The implementation of Realignment in California is the largest correctional experiment of its kind. Through AB 109, the Legislature has allocated over $2 billion in the first two years of implementation to assist California's 58 counties in carrying out the legislation's provisions. In addition, more than 100,000 offenders have had their sentences altered through mid-2013. The advent of Realignment, of course, affected the decision-making of all the official actors in the criminal justice system. But the prosecutor's role is unique in one clear sense: Prosecutors have, in formal legal terms, virtually un-reviewable autonomy in the choice to charge or not charge an offender (so long as any charge matches provable facts with statutory elements). Traditionally, in deciding whether to charge as high as the provable facts allow, they consider contextual aspects of the commission of the offense itself but also any relevant background aspects and criminal record of the offender. How does this power operate in the wake of AB 109? On the one hand, AB 109 simply classified a large number of pre-existing felonies under California Penal Code S1170(h) because they were deemed "triple-nons." In that sense, prosecutors in theory might be indifferent to the change; they would continue to charge these felonies according to the same factors as they always had, and the changes in site of incarceration and possible change in de facto length of sentences would happen of their own accord. In a sense, the only mandated change in prosecutorial choice here had to do with sentence recommendation: Because judges now have the power to impose a split sentence for an AB 109 conviction - fractioning the sentence between jail time and community supervision - when prosecutors exercise their usual function of recommending sentences, they now have to build the matter of split versus straight sentences into that responsibility. Prosecutors have also always been free to consider such resource factors as their own and other agencies' budgets and crowding in jails and prisons. But many aspects of AB 109 were likely from the start to weigh significantly on the decisions made by prosecutors as they exercise their traditional charging and recommendation choices after October 2011. The most salient aspects were the change in site and de facto length of incarceration, as well as the secondary effects of new county responsibilities for post-release supervision of many prisoners returning home. In particular, in exercising discretion, prosecutors might be influenced by their views on the differences in the severity of experience of incarceration in jail as opposed to prison, or by their concerns about jail crowding or the extra costs that county jails and other county agencies might have to absorb under AB 109. Details: Stanford, CA: Stanford Criminal Justice Center, Stanford Law School, 2014. 187p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 28, 2015 at: http://law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/default/files/publication/513777/doc/slspublic/DA%20report%20Feb%202014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/default/files/publication/513777/doc/slspublic/DA%20report%20Feb%202014.pdf Shelf Number: 137169 Keywords: CorrectionsCriminal Justice ReformJustice ReinvestmentPrison OvercrowdingPrison ReformPrisonsProsecutionProsecutorial DiscretionProsecutorsPublic Safety Realignment |
Author: Gartenstein-Ross, Daveed Title: The Convergence of Crime and Terror: Law Enforcement Opportunities and Perils Summary: The Convergence of Crime and Terror: Law Enforcement Opportunities and Perils provides an analysis of the increasingly important link between traditional criminal activities and terrorism. By cataloging a number of relevant cases, the authors have illustrated that terrorists routinely resort to "traditional" crimes, from drug trafficking to financial scams, to further their objectives. As a result, terror prosecutions must find inspiration from historical government efforts to arrest, prosecute, and incarcerate notorious violent criminals such as Al Capone on relatively minor charges such as tax evasion. The aggressive prosecution of such relatively minor offenses can serve to disrupt grander malevolent schemes. As the authors suggest, the rise of terrorism means that the traditional, reactive law enforcement model must change. We cannot afford to wait until after a successful terrorist attack occurs to investigate and prosecute. The examples from Europe included in this paper provide a sobering explanation for why that is so. Law enforcement officials must consider disruptive investigations and prosecutions that may not ultimately lead to a criminal trial on terrorism charges but that will stop potential terror plots before they are put into motion. We face a decentralized, networked, and self-sufficient enemy. Independent cells are increasingly purchasing that self-sufficiency with the proceeds of criminal enterprises. This hard reality provides yet another justification for transforming state and local first responders into first preventers of crime and terror. Details: New York: Manhattan Institute, Center for Policing Terrorism, 2007. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 9, 2015 at: http://www.manhattan-institute.org/pdf/ptr_01.pdf Year: 2007 Country: United States URL: http://www.manhattan-institute.org/pdf/ptr_01.pdf Shelf Number: 137223 Keywords: ProsecutionTerrorismTerrorists |
Author: Simcox, Robin Title: The Presumption of Innocence: Difficulties in bringing Suspected Terrorists to Trial Summary: The Presumption of Innocence, by Henry Jackson Society Research Fellow Robin Simcox, looks at the variety of reasons why the state has not always been able to try terror suspects. The main finding of the report is that, in an era of mass casualty terrorism, the notion that all such individuals can be tried in court is outdated The report demonstrates how prosecutions are just one aspect of a much broader strategy of stopping terrorism and not always necessary in order to prove the existence of a specific threat. The report goes on to call on Western governments - particularly those in Europe - to be clearer in explaining exactly why the state is forced to apply a broad series of measures in combating international terrorism. Partially based on field research undertaken at Guantanamo Bay, the report also argues that: - The majority of those detained at Guantanamo Bay will not be tried. Detention during a time of war takes place to prevent a perceived immediate threat; not as a prelude to trial for a criminal offence. - The operational counter-terrorism tactics of intelligence agencies and law enforcement can diverge significantly. Intelligence agencies' priority is disruption and prevention, not assembling information that can be used in court. - Prosecution of suspected terrorists is not always in the public interest. They risk disclosing classified information in court that hinders ongoing investigations, revealing sensitive sources, or exposing intelligence-gathering methods. - As al Qaeda often operates in ungoverned mountainous regions, the U.S. and its allies have limited access to capturing fighters based there. This has led to the increased use of armed drones and targeted killing, a tactic that will continue in the future. Details: London: The Henry Jackson Society, 2013. 41p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 11, 2016 at: http://henryjacksonsociety.org/ Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://henryjacksonsociety.org/ Shelf Number: 137846 Keywords: IslamProsecutionTerrorismTerrorist DetentionTerrorists |
Author: Cashmore, Judy Title: The Impact of Delayed Reporting on the Prosecution and Outcomes of Child Sexual Abuse Cases Summary: This report examines how the criminal justice systems in New South Wales and South Australia deal with complaints of child sexual abuse reported to the police in childhood compared with those in which the report is delayed until adulthood, which is often referred to as historical child sexual abuse. The research investigates the trends in delayed disclosure and reporting of child sexual abuse, and maps the prosecution process and outcomes associated with varying degrees of delay in reporting to the police, together with other case characteristics such as the age of the complainant victim, and the relationship between the complainant and the alleged offender. RESEARCH QUESTIONS The research focuses on the following questions: 1. What are the trends in recorded reports to police of historical child sexual abuse over a recent 20-year period compared with reports made during childhood in two Australian states - New South Wales and South Australia? 2. What are the trends in the number of prosecutions of cases of historical child sexual abuse over a recent 20-year period compared with child sexual abuse reported during childhood in two Australian states? 3. What factors - including characteristics of the complainant, the type of offence, the relationship between the complainant and the alleged offender, and the delay in reporting to police - are associated with the matter proceeding from a report to the police to prosecution? 4. What is the likelihood of cases reported in childhood and in adulthood resulting in conviction? 5. What factors (as above) are associated with the matter resulting in a conviction or not, and a custodial or other type of sentence? 6. Is there any difference in the rate of appeals, the grounds of appeals, and the outcome of appeals in cases in New South Wales: o where there are delayed complaints compared with cases reported in childhood? o that involved 'institutional' child sexual abuse compared with intra-familial cases of abuse and other extra-familial cases? Details: Sydney: University of Sydney Law School; Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, 2016. 311p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 7, 2016 at: http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/getattachment/e3312f1c-d58f-490d-a467-221684c050c9/The-impact-of-delayed-reporting-on-the-prosecution Year: 2016 Country: Australia URL: http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/getattachment/e3312f1c-d58f-490d-a467-221684c050c9/The-impact-of-delayed-reporting-on-the-prosecution Shelf Number: 147893 Keywords: Child Abuse and NeglectChild MaltreatmentChild ProtectionChild Sexual AbuseProsecutionSex Offenders |
Author: Tallon, Jennifer A. Title: The Intelligence-Driven Prosecution Model: A Case Study in the New York County District Attorney’s Office Summary: Designed and implemented by the New York County District Attorney's Office (DANY), the Intelligence-Driven Prosecution Model (IDPM) is a novel prosecutorial strategy rooted in the rigorous collection of background information about the people, places, and problems driving crime in specific neighborhoods. Through enhanced information gathering— including close coordination with local law enforcement and robust community outreach— the IDPM intends to facilitate improved prosecutorial decision-making. Though technologycentered intelligence collection concerning the specific people and places driving crime adds a unique dimension to data analysis, the model is better understood as a logical extension of earlier community prosecution initiatives dating back to the late 1980s and 1990s. With funding from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance, this study aims to document how the IDPM operates, and explore the model's implementation and effects in New York County, known more widely as the borough of Manhattan. Study methods included intensive document review, interviews with key District Attorney's Office staff and community stakeholders, a quantitative survey of assistant district attorneys regarding their knowledge and use of intelligence gathered in connection with the model, and an impact analysis concerning the effects of the model on bail recommendations, charging, case disposition, and sentencing outcomes. Details: New York: Center for Court Innovation, 2016. 92p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 21, 2017 at: http://www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/documents/IDPM_Research_Report_FINAL.PDF Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/documents/IDPM_Research_Report_FINAL.PDF Shelf Number: 147377 Keywords: Community ProsecutionCriminal ProsecutionIntelligence-GatheringProsecution |
Author: Klein, Andrew Title: Impact of Differential Sentencing Severity for Domestic Violence Offenses and All Other Offenses Over Abusers' Life Spans Summary: The criminal justice response to domestic violence (DV) has been transformed since the 1980s, beginning with greatly increased numbers of arrests. Although prosecution initially lagged, recent research challenges the widespread belief that few DV arrests are prosecuted (Garner & Maxwell, 2009). However, the effectiveness of DV prosecution remains at issue. Maxwell and Garner's review of more than 30 DV prosecution studies, for example, found no deterrent effect of prosecution and sentencing beyond that obtained by the abuser’s initial arrest (2012). The goal of this research is to revisit the question of the effectiveness of DV prosecution. But unlike studies heretofore, we employ a wider lens, examining the relative effect of differential prosecutions of DV offenses over time and compared to all prosecutions experienced by the abuser, including those for offenses unrelated to DV (i.e., non-DV offenses). This wider examination is essential to determine the effectiveness of DV prosecution/sentencing because, as well established in the literature (Klein, 2009), the majority of abusers brought to court do not limit their criminal activities to DV alone. It was our hypothesis that the effectiveness of DV prosecution was significantly associated with the differential prosecution and sentencing severity between DV and non-DV crimes; namely, if DV offenses were treated more severely than nonDV offenses, reabuse would be significantly reduced compared to cases in which DV was prosecuted and sentenced less severely than in non-DV offenses. To study the effectiveness of DV prosecutions, we identified from a larger sample almost 500 abusers who were on probation for DV in Rhode Island in 2002 who had both DV and nonDV cases during the first six years of their criminal careers (and for whom at least one non-DV case preceded a DV case). We then looked at their every adult criminal prosecution, for DV and for non-DV offenses, since age 18 through April 2012. The majority had active criminal careers (as measured from first to last arrest) of at least eight years, with 44% having them for at least 10 years. We then looked at the number of DV cases charged against each abuser after the first six years to determine whether the prosecution/sentencing patterns of domestic and non-DV cases established in the first six years of their criminal careers were associated with subsequent re-abuse arrests. We controlled for the most common independent variables associated with risk of reabuse, including number of prior offenses, gender, and age at first offense (Klein, 2009). More than half (57%) of the abusers were sentenced more severely for DV than for nonDV offenses. Although the 38 different prosecutors' offices across Rhode Island were significantly less likely to prosecute DV offenses than the non-DV offenses (18.8% vs.15.4%, p < .001), those prosecuted for DV were significantly more likely to be incarcerated, mostly for one to 30 days (8.5% vs. 4.0%, p < .001). In comparing the impact of differential prosecution/sentencing severity, we looked at both whether the abusers committed any new DV offense and also the number of new DV offenses, controlling for common risk factors in both analyses. In both analyses, we found that abusers who were prosecuted and sentenced more severely for DV compared to non-DV crimes during the first years of their adult criminal careers were less likely to be arrested for subsequent new DV offenses. They had significantly fewer new DV offenses. Among the subset of abusers who were prosecuted for their DV offense(s) but were not prosecuted for their non-DV offense(s) (N=32), they were significantly less likely to commit new DV offenses. The research suggests that prosecutors and courts have the means to significantly deter reabuse, especially in the majority of states that provide by statute enhanced sentences for repeat DV cases if these increased sanctions are not routinely plea bargained away. Details: Sudbury, MA: Advocates for Human Potential, Inc., 2014. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 23, 2017 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/244757.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/244757.pdf Shelf Number: 141205 Keywords: Domestic ViolenceProsecutionRepeat VictimizationSentencing |
Author: Smahel, David, ed. Title: The meaning of online problematic situations for children: Results of qualitative cross-cultural investigation in nine European countries Summary: Young people are currently surrounded by digital technologies, and through these technologies they experience a variety of positive, but also negative, situations (Livingstone, Haddon, Gorzig, & Olafsson, 2011). The unique pan-European survey of EU Kids Online II (2009-11) offered insights into how often and what types of harm children experienced in the following online risks: cyberbullying, exposure to sexual materials, sexting (sexual communication), meeting online strangers, personal data problems, seeing dangerous websites, and excessive internet use. EU Kids Online II also studied how children cope with some of these risks, and the effectiveness of parental mediation strategies to reduce these risks. Although there are several pieces of research studying specific online risks from qualitative perspectives (i.e., Parris, Varjas, Meyers, & Cutts, 2012; Sleglova & Cerna, 2011; Vandebosch & van Cleemput, 2008), most of the current research on online problematic experiences is quantitative, and aimed at understanding the prevalence, definitions and measurement, and the associated psycho-social consequences. But as we know, perceptions of risk differ for children and researchers (Cohn, Macfarlane, Yanez, & Imai, 1995). What researchers describe as "risky" is sometimes perceived as normal and not negative among young people. Therefore, this report introduces research from the EU Kids Online III (2011-14) studies on risks and online problematic situations from children's perspectives. We ask what children perceive as problematic on the internet, and the meaning of online problematic situations according to children. To fulfil this goal, we proposed qualitative investigations, where we took a children-centred approach and asked what children perceived as problematic on the internet. Using this approach, children spontaneously reported many different online situations, from the harmful and unpleasant to the neutral, as well as positive experiences. For example, meeting an online stranger in offline settings was typically a risk from the researcher's perspective, but from the children's perspectives, it was mostly seen as an online opportunity. Children's experiences with meeting strangers varied from very pleasant to harmful feelings. We therefore decided to avoid the term "risks," where children experienced a broad scale of different situations, and instead used the term "online problematic situations" to describe any unpleasant, bothering, or harmful situations on the internet. We proposed the following definition of problematic online situations: "encompassing a broad range of possible online behaviours and experiences that, together or individually, result in a disruption of relationships, values, daily obligations, and or mental or physical well-being" (Mitchell, Sabina, Finkelhor, & Wells, 2009, p. 707). Such a definition of online problematic situations is broader than the previously used term of "online risk," which is defined as the probability of harm (Livingstone et al., 2011). In this report, both terms are used in different contexts. Research presented in this report is based on focus groups and interviews with 368 children from the following nine countries: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and the United Kingdom (UK). Teams from the EU Kids Online network voluntarily joined this comparative research. Therefore, the selection of countries is not the selection of coordinators, but instead a group of voluntary, cooperating research teams with one coordinator (David Smahel). As explained in Chapter 3: Methodology, we involved children from many different social and cultural backgrounds, and recorded a large variability of different perspectives and meanings of online situations. Nevertheless, this report intentionally does not include a special section on cultural comparisons across countries, because producing a systematic analysis of cultural factors remains difficult in qualitative research with relatively small samples. Despite this consideration, across this report possible observations about country differences have been made, including ones that draw on a background knowledge of specific countries. The emphasis of this report was on pooling the data from the countries in order to describe the range of online problematic situations, and coping and awareness of them, along with various mediational strategies. We believe that this pooled sample has generated enough material to provide a relatively comprehensive picture of the meaning and experience of online problematic situations for children in Europe. Research questions To understand children's meanings of online problematic situations and risks, we proposed the following research questions, which we answer in the chapters that follow in this report: - What do children perceive as being potentially negative or problematic when using the internet? - What online problematic situations and risks are children aware of? - What are the consequences of online negative experiences? - How do/would they react to it (including emotional reaction, behavioural reaction, opinion change etc.)? - What do/would children do to avoid or prevent these online problematic experiences? - What is the context for children's perceptions of certain situations as negative? - In which circumstances are certain situations perceived as negative? In which circumstances are other situations perceived as neutral or even positive? - What coping strategies work best from children's perspectives? - How do children evaluate situations that adults consider problematic? - How are children's negative experiences mediated? Details: London: EU Kids Online, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2014. 171p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 23, 2018 at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/56972/1/EU_Kids_Online_Report_Online_Problematic_Situations_for_Children_June2014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Europe URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/56972/1/EU_Kids_Online_Report_Online_Problematic_Situations_for_Children_June2014.pdf Shelf Number: 149543 Keywords: Child PornographyChild Sexual AbuseOnline VictimizationProsecutionSex OffendersSextingSocial Media |
Author: Haddon, Leslie Title: The meaning of online problematic situations for children: The UK report Summary: The present report looks specifically at the experiences of the UK children who took part in that wider European project. Interviews and focus groups were used to collect children's data. The interview schedule for the research was tested in all participating countries. In the UK pilot interviews were conducted in January 2013 with primary and secondary school boys (aged 9-10 and 11-13 respectively). The European pilots indicated that the interview schedule was generally sound although some alterations were made to it in the light of the pilot feedback. In the UK the main interviews took place between March and September 2013 in four schools - two primary and two secondary. This consisted of interviews with two boys and two girls from each age group (9‐10, 11‐13, 14‐16), and one boys' and one girls' focus group from each of the three age bands, each group consisting of five people. There was one extra interview with a boy aged 9‐10. This made a total of 13 interviews and six focus groups - 43 children aged 9-16 years old altogether. The interviews, conducted by the authors, were fully transcribed and analysed for the present report. Since the UK research was part of a wider European project it followed the same procedures as in the other participating countries. Each point discussed in the interview was summarised in a comment box, and all the comments from the interview were imported into an Excel file. Here they received a secondary level of coding so that for each point made by a child it was clear whether and what ICTs were involved, whether and what risks were involved, who was being discussed, whether the theme was about activities, communication, mediation of some kind, etc. The coding meant that it was possible to search the Excel sheets by various criteria, whether looking into specific risks, preventative measures, coping strategies or parental mediation Parallel to this, main points for translation that related to previous project‐wide discussions of the whole area were marked and collated. In the other countries these observations by children were translated into English to make them accessible to all the other researchers when collectively writing the pan‐European report. In the UK, they were simply collated in the original English. When conducting the analysis, these points for translation often became the basis for the main quotations in this report, either because they summarised certain issues (more succinctly than some of the other children), captured ambivalences or demonstrated a theme well. The points for translation were used in conjunction with searches of the Excel sheet. The latter aimed to capture overall tendencies within the sample, the range of experiences and diverse examples of the same theme. When children are cited but not directly quoted, the material often comes from this second strand of analysis involving an overview of the interview material on any particular topic. The whole procedure had the effect that some children are quoted more, often reflecting the fact that they are either more articulate, more reflective or have more of certain kinds of experience. However, the overall content and conclusions of this report fully reflect the range and diversity of opinions and experiences expressed by all children interviewed in the project. Details: London: EU Kids Online, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2014. 41p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 23, 2018 at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/60514/1/__lse.ac.uk_storage_LIBRARY_Secondary_libfile_shared_repository_Content_EU%20Kids%20Online_EU%20Kids%20Online_Meaning%20of%20online%20problematic%20situations-UK%20report_2014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/60514/1/__lse.ac.uk_storage_LIBRARY_Secondary_libfile_shared_repository_Content_EU%20Kids%20Online_EU%20Kids%20Online_Meaning%20of%20online%20problematic%20situations-UK%20report_2014.pdf Shelf Number: 149545 Keywords: Child Pornography Child Sexual Abuse Online Victimization Prosecution Sex Offenders SextingSocial Media |
Author: Labriola, Melissa Title: Evaluation of the Cook County Misdemeanor Deferred Prosecution Enhancement Program: Findings and Recommendations Summary: Many states, including Illinois, are grappling with overwhelming misdemeanor caseloads, placing significant resource burdens on courts, prosecutors, and defense agencies (see, e.g., Greenberg and Cherney 2017; Schauffler et al. 2016). Responding to these caseload pressures, as well as to growing national interest in reducing the adverse collateral consequences of a conviction for defendants while addressing their underlying treatment needs, prosecutors are increasingly turning to pretrial diversion (e.g., see George et al. 2015; Labriola et al. 2017). Defendants who complete diversion requirements generally have their cases dismissed without further adjudication. The current study evaluates a diversion program for misdemeanor defendants, implemented by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office (SAO), which has jurisdiction over criminal cases in Chicago, Illinois and its surrounding suburbs. The Cook County SAO is the second largest prosecutorial office in the nation and the largest in Illinois, handling about 250,000 cases per year, including more than 150,000 misdemeanors. With funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the SAO sought to expand a preexisting misdemeanor diversion program to geographic areas within the county where the program was not yet available. The current study evaluates both the original diversion model and the enhancement. Misdemeanor Diversion in Cook County The Misdemeanor Deferred Prosecution Program (MDPP) was initiated in 2012 by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. Given available funding, the program was implemented for defendants who, based on the location of their arrest, had their preliminary hearing within two of six geographically-defined branch courts within Chicago (Branch 23 and Branch 29) and two of five suburban district courts (respectively in Skokie and Bridgeview). Besides the geographic location of the arrest and preliminary hearing, diversion eligibility also required the defendant to be charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor; not to have any prior violent conviction within the past ten years; and not to have a pending case in any court at the time that the current case was filed. As a practical matter, based upon case-by-case discretion applied by the assistant state's attorney, diversion participants tended to be first ime defendants (no prior convictions of any kind). In addition, the most commonly seen charges were retail theft, marijuana possession, and trespass. Enrolled program participants were required to attend two sessions at a community-based services agency located conveniently to the participant's home or work. In a special "veterans" track, program participants who were military veterans attended one of their two sessions at the John Marshall Law School Veteran's Legal Support Center and Clinic and the second session at the Jesse Brown Veterans Medical Center. Attendance at both required sessions led to dismissal of the current criminal charges. Implemented in 2015 with Bureau of Justice Assistance funding, the Misdemeanor Deferred Prosecution Enhanced Program (MDPEP) expanded misdemeanor diversion to two additional preliminary hearing courts: Sixth Municipal District (Markham) and Chicago's Branch 34 courthouses. In addition, the expanded diversion model integrated the use of a brief validated risk-need assessment tool, the Criminal Court Assessment Tool (C-CAT), to aid with programming. Specifically, based on whether a defendant was classified by the CCAT as low, moderate, or high risk, the defendant would be routed to one of three alternative diversion tracks: (1) two case management appointments (low risk); (2) two appointments plus at least ten hours of community service (moderate risk); or (3) two appointments plus ten hours of cognitive-behavioral treatment for criminal thinking, using the nationally known Thinking for a Change (T4C) model (high risk). The goals of the enhanced program model were to reduce subsequent criminal behavior; reduce costs to the system; and minimize the collateral consequences resulting from convictions for low-level, non-violent offenses. These same goals were also shared by the original diversion model. Details: New York: Center for Court Innovation, 2018. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed May 7, 2018 at: https://www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2018-03/cook_county_deferred_eval.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2018-03/cook_county_deferred_eval.pdf Shelf Number: 150093 Keywords: Court CaseloadsCourt DiversionCriminal CourtsMisdemeanor DiversionMisdemeanorsProsecution |
Author: Idris, Iffat Title: Interventions to Combat Modern Slavery Summary: Overview This report details findings from evaluations of a range of interventions to combat modern slavery. While there are three broad areas of efforts to tackle modern slavery - prevention, protection and prosecution - the main focus to date has been on prevention and, to a lesser extent, protection; prosecution has received far less attention. The literature indicates that interventions have generally proven to have limited effectiveness. Various evaluations highlight the need for information campaigns to target specific groups and advocate action rather than simply raising awareness. They also call for protection measures to be targeted, and linked to interventions in health, education, social protection and livelihoods. A number of evaluations suggest that legislation banning trafficking, child labour, etc. can be counterproductive: more stress should be put on improving labour and working conditions. Modern slavery is very broad-ranging in scope, covering forced and bonded labour, child labour, sex trafficking, human trafficking and so on. Rather than considering interventions under each type of modern slavery, this review categorises interventions into the following: - prevention - aimed at raising public awareness of modern slavery and its risks; - protection - aimed at empowering victims and helping them rebuild their lives; - prosecution - to support implementation of legislation on modern slavery. Some programmes are cross-cutting, with interventions focused on two or more categories (of prevention, protection and prosecution). Findings from such cross-cutting programmes are given under the most appropriate category. Since this review is designed to support formulation of programmes to tackle modern slavery, its focus is on whether diverse interventions have been effective or not and, crucially, what lessons or recommendations emerge from them that can be applied elsewhere. The main findings are as follows: Information campaigns - it is important that these target specific groups and that they advocate action rather than simply highlighting problems and risks. Baseline assessments can ensure that messaging is appropriate and effective. The priority within campaigns should be on engagement with communities to understand driving factors behind modern slavery and identify suitable interventions - it should not simply be on reaching the maximum number of people (a quantitative exercise). As well as explaining to potential migrants the risks involved and how to carry out safe migration, information campaigns should raise awareness of alternative options that may result in people not having to migrate. Protection measures - these too should be targeted at specific groups, in particular projects for children should be separate from those targeting women and should address their specific concerns. Projects to tackle modern slavery should be linked to interventions in education, health, social protection and livelihoods to increase effectiveness. Prosecution - simply imposing bans on trafficking, child labour, etc. will not be effective, and could even be counterproductive leading to increased vulnerability to trafficking and a rise in child labour. It is important to prioritise labour and working conditions in destinations, rather than simply emphasising prevention. Recent initiatives in the UK and California to increase transparency about modern slavery in company supply chains have had only limited impact. The review drew largely on grey literature, in particular evaluation reports for donor agency programmes. While a number of reports did focus specifically on women, the literature was to a large extent gender blind. The review found no literature looking at the issue of tackling modern slavery from the perspective of persons with disabilities. Details: Birmingham, UK: Knowledge, Evidence, and Learning for Development, 2017. 15p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 11, 2019 at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a5f23f240f0b652634c6f4d/Interventions-to-combat-modern-slavery.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a5f23f240f0b652634c6f4d/Interventions-to-combat-modern-slavery.pdf Shelf Number: 154119 Keywords: Child LaborForced LaborInformation CampaignsModern SlaveryPreventionProsecutionProtectionSex TraffickingTargeted InterventionTraffickingUnited KingdomWorking Conditions |
Author: Satterberg, Dan Title: Prosecution that Earns Community Trust Summary: We could think of this as the protest era. From the #MeToo movement to NFL players taking a knee, our country faces a period of serious upheaval. Marginalized people protest the oppression they experience on a daily basis. And these protests get the full attention of criminal prosecutors, because they go right to the heart of criminal justice and public safety. In some communities, when police arrive at a scene of violence, they encounter witnesses who choose not to help. Police often find people at the crime scene who feel that the police and courts have never treated them fairly, so in protest, they refuse to help solve serious violent crimes in their community, even when they hold valuable evidence. An individual who has been treated unfairly by the criminal justice system may choose to boycott that system by refusing to tell police who murdered their best friend. This sometimes leads to street justice, a different and often violent kind of retribution that only creates more victims of violence. This is called the "no snitch" rule. A more profound protest, we cannot imagine. This boycott of the criminal justice system takes other forms, including countless victims of domestic violence and sexual assault who choose not to report the crimes they suffer. These underreported crimes are a silent protest by the most vulnerable members of our society who do not believe that involving police, prosecutors, or courts will improve their situation. Women who face domestic abuse may fear the spotlight that reporting will place on their precarious situations, including the possibility of reprisal within their own neighborhoods. The boycott also extends to immigrant communities. Crime victims with unclear citizenship status may fear that asking for help from authorities will lead those same authorities to scrutinize their right to live in this country. Taken together, these boycotts amount to a public safety disaster. And they point to the greatest challenge for every District Attorney in America: to earn and keep the trust of the communities where crime has the greatest impact. In this essay, we aim to provide some fresh thinking that an elected prosecutor can use to apply justice outside the courtroom, working together with local community groups to create alternative forms of justice. We advocate for an expanded role of the prosecutor that reaches both upstream and downstream from the prosecutor's traditional role as courtroom adversary. Prosecutors who engage the community outside the criminal courtroom can help trust grow, step by step. The first step is to demonstrate that prosecutors can listen to our critics. When people in the community speak truth to power, the job of the powerful is to stop and listen. Another step prosecutors can take to earn public trust is to make concrete their commitment to treat crime victims with dignity and compassion. That means informing and including victims in the decisions that affect them. But the prosecutor's duties go beyond respectful treatment of victims; prosecutors also must inform and include the entire community as they create more effective accountability measures for low-level crimes and juvenile misconduct. Public safety is something that prosecutors must co-produce with their communities. It is not something they can simply deliver to the public. Details: New York, NY: John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 2018. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 23, 2019 at: https://thecrimereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/IIP-Community_Trust-paper.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://thecrimereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/IIP-Community_Trust-paper.pdf Shelf Number: 154347 Keywords: AttorneyCommunity-Based ApproachesDistrict AttorneyProsecutionProsecutorSnitching |
Author: Ghosal, Vivek Title: The Rise and (Potential) Fall of U.S. Cartel Enforcement Summary: Abstract Government enforcement against collusion, now viewed by the Supreme Court as the "supreme evil" in antitrust, has gone through various phases of enforcement in the U.S. There have been periods in which cartels have been able to collude more or less effectively given various institutional tools at the disposal of the government. By analyzing enforcement and prosecutions data over a long time horizon 1969-2016, this article examines the attributes of cartel enforcement over time and the changing use of tools to assist with detection and punishment. We provide a comprehensive description of critical cartel enforcement events and institutional developments from 1890 to the present. Our examination of the data includes a detailed descriptive analysis which tends to reveal three broad phases of U.S. cartel enforcement and prosecutions. The most recent data indicate a marked decline in the number of prosecutions, but sharp increase in per capita penalties. We also conduct regression-based estimation of the potential quantitative impact of the key institutional innovations to foster detection and prosecutions. Base on the raw data as well as our estimation, we comment on the potential factors that may be driving lower prosecutions in the more recent years. Finally, we briefly compare some key data between U.S. and European Commission cartel prosecutions to examine potential dynamic interlinkages. Details: Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida, Levin College of Law, 2018. 31 p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 9, 2019 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3162867 Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3162867 Shelf Number: 154743 Keywords: Antitrust Antitrust Amendments Act Cartel Enforcement Cartels Collusion Incarceration Price-Fixing Prosecution |
Author: Hinoposa, Gina Title: Turning the Tide on Impunity: Protection and Access to Justice for Journalists and Human Rights Defenders in Mexico Summary: KEY FINDINGS - Protection measures provided through Mexico's Mechanism to Protect Human Rights Defenders and Journalists are often insufficient. The Mechanism has been unable to develop risk analysis protocols that effectively identify the different needs of female, rural, indigenous, and other particularly vulnerable journalists and defenders when it comes to receiving protections. Protection measures are often unreliable, are not adequately implemented, and do not take into account realities on the ground in different parts of the country. In some cases, they have been unable to provide sufficient protection: six Mechanism beneficiaries have been murdered since August 2017. - The Mechanism suffers from a serious lack of adequate staffing and budget levels. There are only 35 Mechanism personnel overseeing the protection of 831 journalists and human rights defenders. Despite this context, Mexico's 2019 budget cut funds to the Ministry of the Interior"s Human Rights Unit-which finances the Mechanism's staff salaries-by over USD$610,500, meaning additional staff will likely not be hired in 2019. Moreover, while the Mechanism spent approximately $13.6 million on the implementation of protection measures in 2018, Mexico's Congress only allocated up to $10.9 million for protection measures in the 2019 budget. - The Mechanism has made progress in developing strategies that go beyond providing immediate protection to journalists and human rights defenders. Experiences in the state of Chihuahua could serve as a model for developing comprehensive prevention strategies that are more comprehensive and more attuned to local contexts. Since 2016, Mechanism officials have been working alongside Chihuahua's state government, national and international human rights bodies, and local civil society groups to develop a Contingency Plan focused on addressing the root causes of violence against journalists and human rights defenders in that state. - Mexican authorities are frequently identified as the perpetrators behind crimes against journalists and human rights defenders. Public officials were determined to be the likely aggressors in 39 percent of cases the Mechanism has overseen. Similarly, "abuse of authority" was the second-most common crime reported by prosecutor's offices that provided us with statistics on these crimes, pointing to how frequently public officials and security forces are involved in attacks. This helps to explain why many investigations into crimes against journalists and human rights defenders lack credibility and impartiality, particularly at the state level. - The Mexican government's failure to properly investigate and sanction crimes against journalists and human rights defenders has left these groups open to attack. Between 2012 and June 2018, only three percent of investigations opened by the state prosecutor's offices analyzed by WOLA and PBI made it to the courts. Of the 1,077 cases investigated by the federal-level Special Prosecutor's Office for Crimes against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE) during that period, less than 12 percent were taken to court. Only five FEADLE cases-less than one percent-resulted in convictions. Aside from its overall poor track record in prosecuting cases, FEADLE rarely takes advantage of its power to take investigations out of the hands of state prosecutor's offices when state authorities are not handling the cases with due diligence. - FEADLE's capacity to fulfill its mandate has been severely limited by a lack of human and financial resources. The agency's budget has been reduced by 54 percent since 2014, from over USD$2 million to around $942,000. The office only has 22 prosecutors and 15 investigative police officers on staff. - Many prosecutor's offices in Mexico do not maintain quality criminal statistics that could aid in criminal analysis and strengthen prosecutorial oversight. Without systematized databases with reliable statistics on crimes against journalists and human rights defenders, prosecutors are unable to draw patterns and connections between cases, or identify any common modus operandi used to target victims. Some offices do not track the status and results of their investigations, such as the outcome of cases that are tried in court. This makes it difficult for authorities to identify and rectify gaps in their investigative practices and processes, and makes clear that prosecutors in these offices are not being evaluated based on their performance. - Some law enforcement institutions often devote valuable time and resources toward discrediting and criminalizing the work of journalists and human rights defenders, rather than guaranteeing their protection. There is a clear pattern of Mexican authorities misusing criminal legislation to criminalize activists and media workers. In Chihuahua state, for example, we found that over the period reviewed for this report, the number of cases in which authorities deemed journalists to be the alleged aggressors was more than double the number of cases opened into crimes committed against them. - The U.S. government continues to provide significant funds to support the Protection Mechanism and to strengthen investigations into crimes against journalists and human rights defenders. In September 2017, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) initiated a USD$7.1 million project called ProVoces. ProVoces consultants have provided trainings, mentorship, and technical assistance to the Mexican agencies charged with addressing violence against journalists and defenders and aims to strengthen coordination between prosecutor's offices, federal and state-level protection mechanisms, and civil society organizations. Details: Washington, DC: Washington Office on Latin America, 2019. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 10, 2019 at: https://www.wola.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ENGLISH-WOLA-PBI-2019.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Mexico URL: https://www.wola.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ENGLISH-WOLA-PBI-2019.pdf Shelf Number: 155747 Keywords: Criminal InvestigationFreedom of ExpressionHomicidesHuman Rights DefendersJournalistsProsecutionProtection Measures |
Author: Block, Stephanie Title: The Prosecution of Child Sexual Abuse: A Partnership to Improve Outcomes Summary: Child sexual abuse (CSA) cases are notoriously difficult to prosecute. Medical evidence is available in less than 5% of the reported cases of CSA and the prosecution often must rely on the testimony of a child. Prosecutors have the responsibility to achieve justice. They balance this role with the complexities of determining what is justice for the child victim and how can they best protect the community from offenders who may go on to sexually abuse others. In 2014, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) funded this study of prosecution of CSA. This report describes research findings on prosecutorial outcomes and considers obstacles to obtaining justice for the child victims in these complicated cases. We conducted retrospective analysis of 500 CSA cases referred for prosecution in one state, to examine the barriers to prosecuting these cases. We analyzed case records for evidence about the alleged incident, details about the victim, the victim's family, the alleged perpetrator, and the prosecutorial decisions. We assessed the case attrition and the CSA case characteristics associated with prosecution outcomes. Our research finds that a small proportion of the reported cases (less than one in five) went forward to prosecution. About half of those cases resulted in a conviction or guilty plea. As demonstrated on all three of our dependent (i.e., prosecutor outcome) variables, caregiver support of the child was an important predictor of the case moving forward. Evidentiary barriers included problems with disclosures presented another major obstacle in these cases. The review of these cases will help to inform guidelines on how to evaluate what successful case progression and outcomes look like. Future research should continue to explore the ways in which other outcomes such as Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement, therapeutic referrals, and changes in living situations may be successful outcomes for victims of CSA. In short, this project was designed to provide critical information to law enforcement, victim service providers and the field on factors that impede justice for children in these demanding and stressful cases. Recommendations are made to increase CSA victims' access to justice and to promote community safety. Our study found a wide array of factors influence case outcome and that these reflect perpetrator issues, victim characteristics, case context and evidentiary and other barriers. Efforts to address these issues will require continued work of multidisciplinary teams to arrive at solutions and evaluate their impact. This study contributes to scholarly and practice-oriented literature and understanding of CSA case attrition with the goal of increasing access to justice for victims and successful prosecution of perpetrators. Details: Lowell, Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts, Lowell, 2019. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 3, 2019 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/252768.pdf Year: 2019 Country: United States URL: https://calio.dspacedirect.org/handle/11212/4324 Shelf Number: 156140 Keywords: Child Protective Services Child Sexual Abuse Child Victims Medical Evidence Prosecution |