Assessment of Pretrial Urine-Testing in the District of Columbia: The Views of Judicial Officers

• NCJ Number: 107744
• Author(s): M A Toborg; J P Bellassai
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 30 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: Toborg Associates, Inc
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Monograph No. 3

Annotation

Interviews with 25 District of Columbia Superior Court hearing commissioners and trial judges who had recently heard criminal cases covered ways in which judges use urine-testing information, their views about how the testing program compares with the pretesting period, and their opinions about the program's impact and about the nature of the drug-crime problems in the District of Columbia.

Abstract

The uses of the drug testing information are to assist in making release decisions, to monitor compliance with release conditions, and to make sentencing decisions. Overall, the Pretrial Service Agency's (PSA's) program was highly rated by the judges and hearing commissioners. They were most impressed with the fast turnaround time for test results, the prompt appearances of PSA representatives in court, the failure to date of all legal challenges to the program, uniform testing and monitoring procedures, and effective program management and staffing. Drug test results are rarely challenged by the defense due to reliable quality control for testing procedures. 27 footnotes.