Participation In Court Research Articles

The United States as an International Litigant

This chapter addresses U.S. participation in international dispute resolution from the Jay Treaty through investor-State arbitration. The chapter analyzes two sharp turns in U.S. sentiment toward a permanent international court: first, in 1935, when the U.S. Senate declined to approve the Permanent Court of International Justice protocol, and second, in 1946, when the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved U.S. acceptance of compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction. The chapter highlights the 1979 Hostages case before the ICJ as a "bridge to 1946," reflecting a moment of exceptionally strong support for U.S. participation in a permanent international court. The chapter then discusses the retreat from the ICJ by the United States, which has not initiated ICJ proceedings in more than 25 years. The chapter contrasts the U.S. retreat from the ICJ with the ongoing U.S. support for supranational, independent dispute resolution in the context of the WTO, specifically the WTO Appellate Body. The chapter then contrasts WTO dispute resolution with investor-State arbitration, where government "victories" are limited to obtaining the dismissal of claims brought by individual investors. Given the structurally limited nature of U.S. Government "victories" in investor-State disputes, maintaining U.S. support for investor-State arbitration will require vigilance, in particular through active monitoring by the United States of all investor-State claims submitted to arbitration under U.S. investment treaties.

United We Stand: The EU and its Member States in the Strasbourg Court

The Accession of the European Union (EU) to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) will mark not only the beginning of a new era in terms of the protection of Fundamental Rights in Europe, but also in terms of the EU’s participation in international courts and tribunals. Up until now, the EU has never become a party to an international agreement with such a strong adjudicatory body. Therefore, it can be expected that the EU’s accession to the ECHR will have important implications for the common assumptions surrounding the relationship between the EU and adjudicatory decision making of international organisations. Furthermore, it cannot be excluded that the articulation of EU participation in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) will not be replicated in other international agreements with an international court.Consequently, the examination of the mechanism envisaging the EU’s participation in ECtHR proceedings undoubtedly raises many interesting issues as regards the EU’s external representation. There are many noteworthy questions concerning the relationship between the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) and the ECtHR in institutional and substantive terms. This paper focuses on an institutional matter, namely, the EU’s locus standi in the ECtHR. More precisely, it examines how the draft Accession Agreement deals with the participation of the EU in the proceedings of the ECtHR; in other words, how the co-respondent mechanism organises the participation of the EU and its Member States in ECtHR proceedings. The current institutional design of the ECHR, and more specifically the way in which the ECtHR works, leads to many problems linked with the future joint participation of the EU and its Member States: the lack of legal certainty as regards the respondent and the lack of unity when pleading or issues concerning the autonomy of the EU’s legal order create problems in terms of the EU’s locus standi.

Recent Victimization Experiences and Continued Criminal Behaviors: What Are the Links for Adult Drug-Involved Offenders?

Using data from the multi-site adult drug court evaluation (MADCE), we examined the relationship between recent victimization experiences and the likelihood of subsequent criminal behavior among a sample of adult drug-involved offenders. The MADCE data used in this study involved interviews with 674 men and 284 women at baseline and then, 18 months later. Multilevel modeling showed that physical victimizations in the year before baseline, but not sexual victimization experiences, were associated with self-reported criminal offending behavior 18 months later. All relationships held true despite controlling for respondents' demographic, criminal history, prior drug-related characteristics, and their participation in a drug court or comparison site program.

Effect of Mental Health Courts on Arrests and Jail Days

Mental health courts are growing in popularity as a form of jail diversion for justice system-involved people with serious mental illness. This is the first prospective multisite study on mental health courts with treatment and control groups. To determine if participation in a mental health court is associated with more favorable criminal justice outcomes than processing through the regular criminal court system and to identify defendants for whom mental health courts produce the most favorable criminal justice outcomes. Longitudinal study. Four mental health courts in San Francisco County, CA, Santa Clara County, CA, Hennepin County (Minneapolis), MN, and Marion County (Indianapolis), IN. A total 447 persons in the mental health court (MHC) and 600 treatment-as-usual (TAU) controls. Eighteen months of pre-entry and postentry data for 4 jurisdictions. All subjects were interviewed at baseline, and 70% were interviewed at 6 months. Objective outcome data were obtained on all subjects from Federal Bureau of Investigation arrest records, jails, prisons, and community treatment providers. Annualized rearrest rates, number of rearrests, and postentry incarceration days. The MHC and TAU samples are similar on the major outcome measures in the pre-entry 18-month period. In the 18 months following treatment, defined as entry into mental health court, the MHC group has a lower annualized rearrest rate, fewer post-18-month arrests, and fewer post-18-month incarceration days than the TAU group. The MHC graduates had lower rearrest rates than participants whose participation was terminated both during MHC supervision and after supervision ended. Factors associated with better outcomes among the MHC participants include lower pre-18-month arrests and incarceration days, treatment at baseline, not using illegal substances, and a diagnosis of bipolar disorder rather than schizophrenia or depression. Mental health courts meet the public safety objectives of lowering posttreatment arrest rates and days of incarceration. Both clinical and criminal justice factors are associated with better public safety outcomes for MHC participants.

Abused and neglected children in court: Knowledge and attitudes

Objective After maltreated children are taken into protective custody, dependency courts determine the children's placements. Many, if not most, maltreated children never attend their dependency court hearings. We had the rare opportunity to interview children in a jurisdiction where children regularly attend their detention hearings in dependency court. Our main goals were to assess maltreated children's knowledge and attitudes about their court experiences and identify predictors thereof. We also examined if the maltreated children desired greater participation in dependency court decisions. Methods Immediately after attending their dependency court hearings, 7- to 10-year-olds were interviewed about their knowledge of, attitudes concerning, and participation in dependency court. Information was also extracted from the children's dependency court files. Results Lack of understanding and negative attitudes were common. Age predicted court knowledge, and age, anxiety, court knowledge, abuse type, and criminal court referral predicted attitudes. Qualitative findings included that a substantial minority of children did not feel believed or listened to, and most children wanted to return home. Conclusions This research is relevant to current debates about the extent to which children should be involved in legal decisions. The results suggest that maltreated children may profit from greater understanding of dependency court. Moreover, the findings indicate that children often wish to have greater influence in dependency court decisions. Policy implications Professionals should consider providing children involved in dependency court hearings with age-appropriate information about the legal proceedings. Children may also benefit in dependency hearings from the opportunity, directly or indirectly (through their attorneys), to give voice to their wishes and needs.

New Models of Collaboration Between Criminal Justice and Mental Health Systems

New Models of Collaboration Between Criminal Justice and Mental Health Systems

Constructing Children's Views in the Enforcement of Contact Orders

AbstractUsing findings from a qualitative Swedish study on children in family law, in particular the enforcement of contact orders, the article focuses on how professionals recognise and account for children's views in such proceedings. Data include 46 court verdicts, whereof 18 files were selected for special study, and 12 interviews with professionals. Results indicate that constructions of what are the children's 'real' views; a discussion of protecting children from negative responsibility; and chronological age, can be used to subordinate children's participation in court. In cases where children's 'conditions' for contact are disregarded by the court, we argue that the children's views are invalidated, as are the possible risk for children's exposure to violence and/or abuse. The reason for involving children in decision-making in family law is consequently not only to uphold children's rights, but to promote children's protection as well.

The Involvement of Children in Decisions about Shared Residence

This article discusses the relationship between law and social change in connection with the child's right to participate in decisions on residence. The empirical data are drawn from a survey of parents who have arranged shared residence for their children. In line with earlier research on children's participation in court disputes over contact and residence, we found that the age of the child is decisive regarding the degree of influence they have in private agreements. But, surprisingly, it was found that the educational level of the parents had a major impact on children's participation in decisions about shared residence. When we controlled for gender it turned out that highly educated fathers were least likely of all parents to report that the child had been taken into a co-decision process. This result might add a new dimension to our understanding of the relationship between law and social change.

Assessing the long-term impact of drug court participation on recidivism with generalized estimating equations

Drug courts are one of the most common strategies for dealing with the large proportion of criminal offenders who are drug-involved, yet methodological limitations limit the conclusions that can be drawn from many existing evaluations of their effectiveness. The current study examined the long-term impact of drug court participation compared to regular probation on the recidivism of 475 drug-involved offenders under supervision in Hillsborough County, Florida. Using a combination of self-reported data (collected through in-person interviews at baseline, i.e., the beginning of supervision) and administrative records, the study employed a repeated measures framework (examining five 6-month time periods from baseline to 30 months post-baseline) and generalized estimating equations to compare the likelihood of being arrested between drug court participants and a matched sample of comparison offenders. The results indicate that participation in drug court was associated with a significant decrease in the likelihood of being arrested in the 12–18 months post-baseline time period. Although the drug court effect was somewhat delayed (it was not significant prior to 12 months) and short-lived (it was not significant after 18 months), the fact that significant program effects were observed during a time period that coincides with the conclusion of drug court participation for graduates and a time period well beyond initial program exposure, suggests that drug court participants are more likely than comparable offenders not exposed to drug court to remain arrest free when no longer under community supervision.

California Drug Courts: Outcomes, Costs and Promising Practices: An Overview of Phase II in a Statewide Study

The rapid expansion of drug courts in California and the state's uncertain fiscal climate highlighted the need for definitive cost information on drug court programs. This study focused on creating a research design that can be utilized for statewide and national cost-assessment of drug courts by conducting in-depth case studies of the costs and benefits in nine adult drug courts in California. A Transactional Institutional Costs Analysis (TICA) approach was used, allowing researchers to calculate costs based on every individual 's transactions within the drug court or the traditional criminal justice system. This methodology also allows the calculation of costs and benefits by agency (e.g., Public Defender's office, court, District Attorney). Results in the nine sites showed that the majority of agencies save money in processing an offender though drug court. Overall, for these nine study sites, participation in drug court saved the state over $9 million in criminal justice and treatment costs due to lower recidivism in drug court participants. Based on the lessons learned in Phases I and II, Phase III of this study focuses on the creation of a web-based drug court cost self-evaluation tool (DC-CSET) that drug courts can use to determine their own costs and benefits.

Long-term effects of participation in the Baltimore City drug treatment court: Results from an experimental study

This study uses an experimental design comparing 235 offenders assigned either to drug treatment court or treatment as usual. It extends prior analyses of this study sample to examine whether differences observed between drug treatment court subjects and control subjects at one and two years after the start of the program persist after three years, when many of the subjects had ceased active treatment. Further, it extends earlier analyses that showed that the quantity of drug treatment court services received was related to lower recidivism rates by using an instrumental variables approach to handle the endogeneity problem that sometimes arises when subjects self-select into different levels of service. Results show a sustained treatment effect on recidivism, controlling for time at risk. This effect is not limited to the period during which services are delivered. Rather, it persists even after participation in the drug court program ceases. Results also show that the recidivism is lowest among subjects who participate at higher levels in certified drug treatment, status hearings, and drug testing. These positive findings are tempered with findings that more than three-fourths of clients are re-arrested within three years, regardless of participation in the drug treatment court, and that drug treatment court cases spend approximately the same number of days incarcerated as do control cases. Implications for strengthening drug treatment courts are discussed.

Treatment as Part of Drug Court

Drug treatment is one of the critical components of drug court programming, yet it has not been thoroughly studied in the drug court literature. Very little is understood about the nature of drug treatment services provided in the drug court setting. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of selected treatment variables on drug court outcomes. In this study of four drug courts, the researchers explored how drug treatment services were provided using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative measures. Observations of drug treatment counselors found that treatment sessions varied in terms of the content of the sessions with a tendency to cover a broad range of topics. An analysis of graduation rates in drug courts found that participation in drug treatment affects graduation-offenders who participate more tend to graduate from drug court. However, even graduates could not follow the multilayered drug court program requirements. In the multivariate models explaining graduation rates, the length of participation in drug treatment court and services provided by government-run agencies (e.g., health departments) impacted outcomes. Services provided by government-run programs tended to reduce the likelihood of graduation. More research is needed to understand the issue of treatment participation on recidivism and length of time to rearrest.

Participation in drug treatment court and time to rearrest*

This study uses an experimental design to assess the impact of a drug treatment court on nonviolent felony offenders. The drug court program combines intensive supervision, judicial monitoring, drug testing, and drug treatment to reduce recidivism and other problem behaviors. Survival analyses showed that the drug court sample had a significantly longer time to first rearrest than the control sample. Assignment to the drug court also significantly reduced the risk of drug crime failure during the follow-up period. The drug court and control samples had identical failure rates during the first 4 months of the follow-up, after which the drug court appeared to have its greatest impact on the risk of failure. Further analyses suggested that compliance with various drug court components, particularly early and continued drug treatment attendance, reduced the risk of failure among this sample.

California Drug Courts: A Methodology for Determining Costs and Avoided Costs

A significant body of outcome evaluation research on drug courts exists; however, few studies have investigated the cost implications of these collaborative justice models. This study focuses on creating a sound research design that can be utilized for a statewide and national cost assessment of drug courts by conducting an in-depth case study of three adult drug courts in California. A transactional costs analysis (TCA) approach was utilized, allowing the researcher to calculate costs based on every individual's transactions within the drug court and the traditional criminal justice system. This model allows for the identification of each agency's resource contribution to the system and their avoided costs due to system outcomes. Cost results in all three sites indicate that participation in drug court, regardless of graduation status; saves taxpayers significant money over time. Expenditure and savings varied considerably among the agencies involved. Some agencies, such as the Department of Corrections, contribute little to the drug court system but experience substantial costs avoidance due to a reduction in recidivism among drug court participants. In order to validate study results and test the research design, the TCA methodology will be applied in six additional courts in the second phase of the project.

Victim Participation in the New Juvenile Court: Tracking Judicial Attitudes Toward Restorative Justice Reforms

Although victims’ rights legislation is now challenging juvenile justice professionals to give crime victims a role in decision making, juvenile courts have traditionally focused primarily on the individual needs and risks of young offenders. Recently, the restorative justice focus on repairing harm has helped to link victim involvement to a broader juvenile court mission that includes victims, as well as offenders and communities, as stake-holders in the justice process. Based on a national survey of U.S. juvenile court judges, as well as qualitative data from focus groups in four states, this article examines attitudes toward crime victim participation at several levels of the juvenile justice system. The impact of individual experience, organizational environment, and professional ideology on these attitudes is examined using multivariate analyses to explain differences in support for the focus on victim involvement as one component of restorative justice. Implications for implementation of restorative justice policy and practice, as well as for future research, are considered.

Psychiatric Participation in Court

Psychiatric Participation in Court

The Probation Officer's Perception of the Attorney's Role in Juvenile Court

The Gault decision has resulted in the widespread use of at torneys in juvenile court. The purpose of this study was to ex amine the impact of this change on a group of thirty-two juvenile probation officers who had attended special institutes related to the lawyer's entrance into juvenile court. Their perceptions of counsel's role were conceptualized within the framework of (1) the nature of the attorney's participation in juvenile court, (2) the effects of the attorney's involvement, (3) perceived conflict between the lawyer and the juvenile officer, and (4) resolution of conflicts. Several attitudinal-type statements were included under each of these main areas to operationalize the juvenile officers' responses.