State Criminal Justice Research Articles

The importance of historically reflexive critical thinking for police education: United States criminal justice and the brutalization of African Americans

Abstract The value of college education for US police officers has been contemplated since at least the 1920’s, yet the importance of critical thinking has only recently attracted scholarly attention. Modern police training is frequently led by experienced former practitioners; however, as “insiders” they may be less likely to critically evaluate the role police play, and have played, in maintaining unjust and discriminatory systems, particularly for African Americans. This article considers existing scholarship on police training and education, highlighting and demonstrating the importance of historically reflexive critical thinking.

HỌC THUYẾT VI PHẠM VÔ HẠI TRONG TƯ PHÁP HÌNH SỰ HOA KỲ VÀ VI PHẠM TỐ TỤNG KHÔNG LÀM THAY ĐỔI BẢN CHẤT VỤ ÁN TẠI VIỆT NAM

During the investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of criminal cases, there is carry the risk of procedural violations and errors. When conducting appellate or cassation trials, it is crucial to determine the seriousness or harmlessness of any procedural offences to decide whether to cancel the judgment for re-investigation or re-trial. The authors introduce the doctrine of “harmless error” in the United States criminal justice system and analyzes the “procedural violations that do not change the nature of the case” in Vietnam. Finally, the authors recommend developing regulations on this type of violation in Vietnam’s criminal procedure lane.

The Thorny Intersection Between Adult Drug Treatment Courts and Medical Marijuana Criminal Immunity Laws

Two revolutionary developments impacted the United States criminal justice system over the past 30 years that are now primed for an institutional reckoning—the legalization of medical marijuana at the state level and the exponential rise of adult drug treatment courts across the country. The states that have legalized medical marijuana also provide criminal immunity protections for qualifying medical marijuana patients, including those serving probationary sentences. Drug treatment courts are a form of intensive probation offering treatment services for participants plagued by substance use disorders. Most drug treatment courts operate on an abstinence‐based model and do not permit the use of medical marijuana. Consequently, challenges by drug court participants to the continued prohibition of medical marijuana are on the horizon. The purpose of this article is to highlight the contours of these knotty issues from a sociolegal perspective. The material for this article stems from a review of existing judicial decisions in addition to qualitative data collected during my case studies of three different adult drug treatment courts.

Israel and It’s Unique Features for the United States (U.S.) and Other Countries Criminal Justice Systems

The main purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the Israeli criminal justice system and highlight its unique features for both the United States (U.S.) criminal justice sciences and the global criminal justice systems. To accomplish this goal through qualitative methods, this study utilizes recent scholarly research papers written not only by the national scholar of Israel but also by international scholars who have conducted research concerning Israel. Additionally, this study suggests some unique features of Israel’ criminal justice system for the (U.S.) criminal justice systems and other countries' criminal justice systems.

Reducing criminal recidivism in Alaska: The Set Free Model

Crime associated with problematic substance use remains a defining characteristic in the United States criminal justice system. In Alaska, a perennial leader in US criminal recidivism rates, thousands of formerly incarcerated individuals continue to commit crimes and misuse drugs and alcohol following their release from incarceration. The total cost of these crimes to victims and Alaska’s criminal justice system is over $2.3 billion annually. The Set Free Model is a comprehensive intervention addressing the primary risk factors of criminal recidivism within an innovative therapeutic campus environment. Occurring within a four-phase operational framework for an average of 6 to 18 months, participants engage in a suite of services proven to reduce further criminal recidivism. These services include certified peer support, supportive housing, co-occurring substance use disorder treatment, career placement, intensive case management, and positive community reintegration. Over an 18-month period, the nonprofit treatment agency Set Free Alaska provided the Set Free Model to a sample of 32 formerly incarcerated adults at high risk of criminal recidivism. Participants displayed a 21.8% recidivism rate compared with the current rate of 66.4%. Treatment engagement rates significantly improved compared with traditional outpatient rates (94.7% vs. 66.7%). Employment rates were also remarkable compared with national employment rates at 1-year postrelease (100% vs. 37%). Validated calculations indicate the sample population may achieve $6.25 million in cost savings and net economic benefits. Evaluation results indicate the model possesses significant potential to reduce criminal recidivism and should be further expanded and evaluated.

Exploring the Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Practice in Criminal Law System

The criminal justice system in Indonesia, like many other countries, faces the challenge of effectively addressing crime while ensuring justice for victims and rehabilitation for offenders. In response to the limitations of the traditional punitive approach, restorative justice has emerged as an alternative paradigm, emphasizing healing, reconciliation, and community involvement. This research study aims to trace the effectiveness of restorative justice practices within the Indonesian criminal justice system through a comparative analysis. By employing a mixed-methods approach, the research combines quantitative data from official criminal justice statistics and qualitative data from interviews, case studies, and focus groups. The findings reveal that restorative justice cases demonstrate higher rates of victim engagement, increased offender accountability, and lower recidivism rates compared to conventional cases. Victims express higher levels of satisfaction with the restorative justice process, and practitioners acknowledge its potential benefits. However, challenges in implementation and the need for community support are also evident. The research contributes to the ongoing discourse on criminal justice reform in Indonesia and provides evidence-based insights to guide policymakers in developing a more balanced and effective approach to addressing crime and promoting justice, healing, and restoration within society.

Shining a Light on Forensic Black-Box Studies

Forensic science plays a critical role in the United States criminal legal system. For decades, many feature-based fields of forensic science, such as firearm and toolmark identification, developed outside the scientific community’s purview. The results of these studies are widely relied on by judges nationwide. However, this reliance is misplaced. Black-box studies to date suffer from inappropriate sampling methods and high rates of missingness. Current black-box studies ignore both problems in arriving at the error rate estimates presented to courts. We explore the impact of each type of limitation using available data from black-box studies and court materials. We show that black-box studies rely on unrepresentative samples of examiners. Using a case study of a popular ballistics study, we find evidence that these nonrepresentative samples may commit fewer errors than the wider population from which they came. We also find evidence that the missingness in black-box studies is non-ignorable. Using data from a recent latent print study, we show that ignoring this missingness likely results in systematic underestimates of error rates. Finally, we offer concrete steps to overcome these limitations. Supplementary materials for this article areavailable online.

Life in the hole: The impact of solitary confinement in the United States

AbstractAn estimated 84,000 incarcerated individuals face solitary confinement in the United States criminal justice system. Solitary confinement is seen as a cruel punishment, with lasting effects, for incarcerated individuals. Human rights organisations, medical associations, policymakers, and incarcerated people have argued for the discontinuation of solitary confinement. After being in solitary confinement for an extended period, incarcerated people can suffer worsening and future mental health issues, physical health concerns and issues with relationships during and after serving their time in prison. This article reviews the available research and the purpose of the article is to show the detrimental effects solitary confinement has on incarcerated individuals. Clinical and policy implications for prisons that use solitary confinement are discussed to dissuade usage.

Establishing the nexus among mob justice, human rights violations and the state: Evidence from Nigeria

Over time, justice has been one of humanity's most important affairs the state institutions are mandated to achieve every in civil and criminal proceedings. However, the Nigerian state criminal justice system faces the issue of individuals embracing illegal punishment termed “mob justice” to address public security threats and police neighborhoods. Such punishment tends to violate human rights laws. Hence, this study explored mob justice issues and their intersection with human rights in Nigeria. From 1152 participants recruited in Lagos, Nigeria using simple random and convenience sampling methods, the data was gathered via a structured questionnaire and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The findings indicated that institutional problems and unethical practices in the criminal justice system aggravate public distrust. In conjunction with socioeconomic disparities, the distrust triggers individuals to adopt an unconventional approach (mob justice) against crime suspects for public security's sake. Such an approach violates suspects' rights to life, a fair hearing, justice, and protection from degrading treatments as stipulated in the 1999 Nigerian Constitution and international human rights treaties the country is a signatory to. However, the study advised the Nigerian state and criminal justice stakeholders to address structural and institutional issues that make mob justice an alternative form of justice appealing to the public.

A Qualitative Systematic Review of Access to Substance Use Disorder Care in the United States Criminal Justice System.

Background: The majority of patients with a substance use disorder (SUD) in the United States do not receive evidence-based treatment. Research has also demonstrated challenges to accessing SUD care in the US criminal justice system. We conducted a systematic review of access to SUD care in the US criminal justice system. Methods: We searched for comprehensive qualitative studies in multiple databases through April 2021, and two researchers reviewed 6858 studies using pre-selected inclusion criteria. Once eligibility was determined, themes were extracted from the data. This review provides a thematic overview of the US qualitative studies to inform future research-based interventions. This review was conducted in compliance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Results: There were 6858 unique abstract results identified for review, and seven qualitative studies met the inclusion criteria. Two themes were identified from these results: (1) managing withdrawal from medication-assisted treatment, and (2) facilitators and barriers to treatment programs in the criminal justice system. Conclusions: Qualitative research evaluating access to SUD care in the US criminal justice system varied, with some interventions reported not rooted in evidence-based medicine. An opportunity may exist to develop best practices to ensure evidence-based treatment for SUDs is delivered to patients who need it in the US criminal justice system.

The Criminal Justice Administrative Records System: A next-generation research data platform

The Criminal Justice Administrative Records System (CJARS), a joint project of the U.S. Census Bureau and the University of Michigan, is a nationally integrated data infrastructure project designed to transform research and policymaking on the United States criminal justice system. At the University of Michigan, CJARS collects longitudinal electronic records from criminal justice agencies and harmonizes these records to track a criminal episode across all stages of the system. At the U.S. Census Bureau, harmonized criminal justice records can be linked anonymously at the person-level with extensive social, demographic, and economic information from national survey and administrative records.

Shifting From Warriors to Guardians: Officer Reflections on Law Enforcement Training in Washington State

Contemporary law enforcement methods are largely defined by crime control and militarization in the “warrior” policing model. In 2013, the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (WSCJTC) adopted an alternative “guardian” training model for the Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA) focused on procedural justice, community partnerships, de-escalation, and crisis intervention. The current study investigates BLEA graduates’ perceptions of guardian policing and training elements. Researchers interviewed new officers who completed BLEA training with the guardian curriculum ( n = 17) and officers trained in a warrior-based curriculum ( n = 11). Themes are analyzed from interview data, including officer perceptions of BLEA guardian training and related programs. The paper concludes with discussion of limitations, themes, and policy implications of the research.

The Laws of Search, Seizure, and Custodial Interrogation: Searching the Orchard of American Constitution

The United States Criminal Justice System and court structure are two separate court systems, one at the federal level and another at the state level. In criminal proceedings, many courtrooms principally convict either by trial or by guilty plea, and many result in dismissing cases. It is necessary to examine the scope of the crime problems that criminal courts face and the organizational context as well as the policies in which they operate. The Fourth Amendment rights in particular, limits to searches and seizures are important procedures in the ongoing prosecution of crimes in America. The right of the people to remain secure in persons and properties against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated. The police have the power to search and seize, but individuals are protected against unreasonable police intrusion. The Fifth Amendment Miranda rights protect any person from custodial interrogation by the police. It is required that all arrestees be given their Miranda warnings and if they are invoked they must be scrupulously honoured.

Anti-terrorism courts’ convictions in trials of sectarian-terrorism crimes: A case study of the Punjab province of Pakistan

Sectarian activists in Pakistan are occasionally arrested by law enforcement agencies in sectarian-terrorism crimes but very rarely convicted by the courts. Contemporary research mainly relates slow convictions in sectarian crimes to defects in the state's criminal justice system. But this article connects anti-terrorism courts’ (ATCs) slow convictions and large-scale acquittals in sectarian-terrorism crimes to vague anti-terror laws, judges’ and witnesses’ security concerns and the incompetence of the prosecution and judges. The article applies the mixed method of research by using data from personal interviews, online sources, newspapers, research journals, articles and books. It argues that undefined anti-terrorism laws, judges’ security concerns and sectarian activists’ terrorization of judges and eyewitnesses add to the ATCs’ slow convictions in sectarian-terrorism crimes in the Punjab. Moreover, prosecution and judges’ incompetence and their inclination towards Islamic principles in judgements show bias in the application of sectarian-terrorism related laws that have been causing large-scale acquittals in the ATCs.

Race, excess suspicion, and larceny in Upstate NY

ABSTRACT Archival crime data collected by a police agency in Upstate New York from 2008 to 2015; outcome, sentencing, and incarceration data collected by the New York State’s Department of Criminal Justice Statistics; and demographic data collected by the U.S. Census were analyzed to explore how a suspect’s race and sex affect the investigation, prosecution, conviction, and sentencing in larceny cases. Results suggest that Black men were more likely to be the targets of excess suspicion, less likely to be granted leniency by prosecutors, no more likely to be convicted, but, if convicted, more likely to be incarcerated than White men.

The dark figure of violence committed by discharged psychiatric inpatients

PurposeOfficial criminal justice statistics (e.g. arrest rates) underestimate the frequency of crime because not all crime gets reported to authorities, a phenomenon known as the “dark figure of crime.” The present study aims to examine the dark figure of violence committed by discharged psychiatric patients.Design/methodology/approachMultiple reporting modalities permitted a direct comparison between patients whose violence was officially detected to those whose violence was self-reported but not officially detected, along with differences in the nature of violent acts.FindingsOnly 5% of violent individuals were officially detected, 26% of violent individuals were both officially detected and self-reported their violent behavior, while 68% of violent individuals self-reported their violent behavior and were not officially detected. The type of violent acts did not vary as a function of whether they were officially detected or self-reported. However, differences were observed for the location of violence, the relationship to the victim and whether an injury resulted. Older individuals, those with prior arrests and those with higher psychopathy scores are some of the factors associated with an increased likelihood of officially detected violence.Research limitations/implicationsThe data were collected from three sites in the USA. Generalizing the specific findings to other locations and countries ought to be done cautiously.Practical implicationsStudies ought to include multiple methods to measure violence. Self-report seems to be especially important to the extent one is concerned with measuring actual violence rather than violence that gets detected by legal authorities.Originality/valueThis study highlights an important limitation of relying exclusively on official criminal justice statistics when studying violence or recidivism in the community.

Ethnoracial classification and the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics: constructing Palestinian criminality in Israel (1990–2019)

ABSTRACT Research on the census and ethnoracial classification shows that the categories collected by census agencies are political choices that not only reflect demographic reality but also, to some extent, construct it. In this article, using the case of the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, I focus on one type of official statistics, criminal justice statistics, and theorize how their changing presentation of ethnoracial categories can have a stigmatizing effect. Based on analyzing 30 years of the annual Statistical of Israel, I show that the criminal justice statistics section of this publication made several changes to the categories they presented including removing breakdowns by continent of origin/birth for Jews. Building on research on the history of crime statistics in the United States, I show how removing the continent of origin/birth for Jews had the effect of creating a binary comparison between Jews and Arabs, thus stigmatizing the latter group.

The effect of offender race/ethnicity on public opinion of appropriate criminal sentences

AbstractPurposeThere has been a long history of sentencing disparities in the United States criminal justice system, in particular amongst defendants of different races or ethnicities. The most commonly noted disparity is that Black defendants are typically sentenced more harshly than White defendants. This study analysed the relationship between an offender's racial/ethnic status and the layperson's opinion of an appropriate sentence by investigating an array of racial/ethnic categories amongst a variety of crimes.MethodUndergraduate students (Experiment 1, N = 594; Experiment 3, N = 263) recruited from introductory psychology courses and a community sample (Experiment 2, N = 124) recruited via Amazon MTurk were presented with crime vignettes and photos of offenders and asked to assign a punishment that they deem appropriate (operationalized as number of months of imprisonment). Participants were also randomly assigned to either receive the 2018 Federal Guidelines’ recommended sentence for each crime or not.ResultsTwo findings were the most striking: 1) White offenders were sentenced significantly more harshly than any other race/ethnicity for assault crimes and 2) significant differences in sentencing due to offender race/ethnicity were only apparent when participants were exposed to all five race/ethnicity categories (Experiments 1 and 2) rather than just one race/ethnicity (Experiment 3).ConclusionsThe results of the present study may be time‐sensitive and reflective of the current sociopolitical climate following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Future research may benefit from replicating this study longitudinally to assess the longevity of these results.

Miranda v. Arizona and Duties to Police for Criminal Suspects in Criminal Justice under the Constitution of United States of America

The United States Criminal Justice System and court structure are two separate court systems, one at the federal level and another at the state level. In criminal proceedings, many courtrooms principally convict either by trial or by guilty plea, and many result in dismissing cases. It is necessary to examine the scope of the crime problems that criminal courts face and the organizational context as well as the policies in which they operate. The Fourth Amendment rights in particular, limits to searches and seizures are important procedures in the ongoing prosecution of crimes in America. The right of the people to remain secure in persons and properties against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated. The police have the power to search and seize, but individuals are protected against unreasonable police intrusion. The Fifth Amendment Miranda rights protect any person from custodial interrogation by the police. It is required that all arrestees be given their Miranda warnings and if they are invoked they must be scrupulously honoured.

Assessing the Impact of Service-Learning in a Criminal Justice Statistics Class

Service-learning is a pedagogical strategy that has been incorporated into classrooms in the social sciences increasingly in recent years. However, there has been less incorporation of service-learning into nontraditional courses such as statistics, despite its potentially large beneficial impacts on the students in statistics courses. This study used a quasi-experimental design and a mixed-methods analysis to determine the impact of service-learning on criminal justice students’ attitudes and outcomes in the context of a statistics course over four semesters. The impact was difficult to measure quantitatively; the qualitative findings suggested that students benefited in terms of their positive attitudes toward statistics and the overall learning outcomes of the course. The findings have implications for students’ future careers within the criminal justice field.