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Judiciary

Research Brief
Diversion Instead of Court: Improving Outcomes for People Arrested for Low-level Crimes
This research brief summarizes results of a process and outcome evaluation of Project Reset, a program that diverts adults arrested for low-level crimes into community-based support programs and out of the court system.
May 16, 2023
Report
A Process and Outcome Evaluation of Project Reset
In this report, RAND researchers share results of a process and outcome evaluation of Project Reset, a program that diverts adults arrested for low-level crimes into community-based support programs and out of the court system.
May 16, 2023
Blog
Reflecting on the Pandemic, RAND Turns 75, Labor Trafficking: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, 75 years of influential RAND research, reducing labor trafficking in the United States, and more.
May 12, 2023
Journal Article
The Impact of Defense Counsel at Bail Hearings
Roughly half of U.S. counties do not provide defense counsel at bail hearings, and few studies have documented the potential impacts of legal representation at this stage.
May 11, 2023
News Release
Providing Legal Counsel at Initial Bail Hearings Reduces Use of Cash Bail, Lowers Incarceration
Providing defendants with legal counsel during their initial bail hearing decreases use of monetary bail and pretrial detention, without increasing the likelihood that defendants fail to appear at the subsequent preliminary hearing.
May 5, 2023
Journal Article
Failing to Follow the Rules: Can Imprisonment Lead to More Imprisonment Without More Actual Crime?
We find that people involved in low-level crime receiving a prison sentence are more likely than those with non-prison sentences to be re-imprisoned due to technical violations of parole, rather than due to new crimes.
Mar 30, 2023
Testimony
Evaluation of the California County Resentencing Pilot Program
The California County Resentencing Pilot Program was established in 2021 and will run through September 1, 2024. In the program's first year, what were some of the implementation challenges participants faced? And what are some early results from the nine pilot counties' case reviews?
Mar 17, 2023
Report
Rethinking Case Management and the Process of Civil Justice Reform: Summary and Papers Presented at a UCLA-RAND Center for Law and Public Policy Conference
This publication summarizes the discussions and presents four pieces of scholarship presented during the UCLA-RAND Center for Law and Public Policy-sponsored "Rethinking Civil Case Management" conference.
Mar 15, 2023
Journal Article
Racial Disparities in Criminal Sentencing Vary Considerably Across Federal Judges
Substantial race-based disparities exist in federal criminal sentencing. We analyze 380,000 recent (2006–2019) sentences in the JUSTFAIR database and show that these disparities are large and vary considerably across judges.
Feb 15, 2023
Report
Ambiguities of Bruen Decision Will Affect State Gun Regulation
The Supreme Court's decision in Bruen extended beyond New York's carry laws, raising broader questions about the constitutionality of other federal and state firearm laws. Courts deciding these cases will likely have to construct a new model of analyzing the surge of Second Amendment cases.
Nov 4, 2022
Report
Evaluation of the California County Resentencing Pilot Program: Year 1 Findings
This evaluation of the California County Resentencing Pilot Program seeks to determine how the program is implemented in nine pilot counties and what the characteristics are of a possible candidate for resentencing.
Oct 3, 2022
Report
Justice Must Go On: The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Military Court Operations
This Perspective provides a preliminary examination of how the coronavirus 2019 pandemic affected caseloads in the military justice system and how the system adapted its operations. It also offers several recommendations for possible future actions.
Sep 6, 2022
Journal Article
Does Mens Rea Matter?
Does mens rea matter to the criminal legal system? Our study addresses this question by performing the first-ever empirical analysis of a culpable mental state's impact on administration of a criminal statute.
Mar 23, 2022
Tool
Empowerment-Based Domestic Violence Programming Within a Family Court Setting: An Implementation Guide
This guide supports the implementation of an empowerment-based domestic violence program within a family court setting. It was developed to share the best practices learned during an evaluation of the Safe Horizon Family Court organization.
Jan 6, 2022
Infographic
Empowering Domestic Violence Survivors Within the Family Courts
This infographic accompanies a tool that supports the implementation of an empowerment-based domestic violence program within a family court setting.
Jan 6, 2022
Journal Article
Prior Punishments and Cumulative Disadvantage: How Supervision Status Impacts Prison Sentences
This article explores one way prior punishments may contribute to cumulative disadvantage: through more severe sentencing of those under criminal justice supervision.
Nov 10, 2021
Research Brief
Black Motorists Face More-Serious Charges for Excessive Speeding Than White Motorists Do
In many states, motorists accused of excessive speeding can face either a criminal misdemeanor or a traffic infraction. Data on speeding violations in Virginia show large racial disparities in who is convicted of a misdemeanor.
Oct 4, 2021
Report
Racial Disparities in Misdemeanor Speeding Convictions
In this report, researchers use data on speeding violations in Virginia to examine whether there are racial disparities in who benefits from the discretion of law enforcement and the courts to discount or downgrade misdemeanor violations.
Oct 4, 2021
Blog
Criminal Justice in the Pandemic Era and Beyond
The pandemic forced the entire criminal justice system to adapt and innovate in ways it never had before. How can the lessons of COVID-19 improve the future of criminal justice?
Sep 7, 2021
Journal Article
A Better Path Forward for Criminal Justice: A Report by the Brookings-AEI Working Group on Criminal Justice Reform
In this volume, experts offer policymakers with analysis and recommendations to support sustained, bipartisan reforms to move the criminal justice system toward a more humane and effective footing.
Sep 1, 2021

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RAND Topic:
Courts

Topic Synonyms:
Bar;
Judiciary;
Tribunal

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