EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF OMNIBUS HEARING (OH) ON MEASURES OF EFFICIENCY AND JUSTICE - TERMINATION REPORT - PHASE 1

• NCJ Number: 43916
• Author(s): T J NAGY; R L STARR
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 521 pages
• Grant Number(s): 76-NI-99-0014; 77-NI-99-0021
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: American Bar Assoc.
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

RESULTS OF THE FIRST HALF OF A TWO-PART STUDY TO DEMONSTRATE THE ADVANTAGES OF THE OMNIBUS HEARING PROCEDURE ARE GIVEN; DATA FOR THE 'BEFORE' OMNIBUS STAGE AND A LIMITED ANALYSIS ARE PRESENTED.

Abstract

THE OMNIBUS HEARING IS A TECHNIQUE RECOMMENDED BY THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION TO FACILITATE THE SPEEDY DISPOSITION OF CASES, ATTEMPTING TO ACCOMPLISH AT ONE COURT APPEARANCE AS MANY AS POSSIBLE OF THE COURT ACTIONS REQUIRED PRIOR TO DISPOSITION, BUT ELIMINATING THE MOTION PAPERS AND OTHER SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS ORDINARILY RELIED UPON FOR INITIATING SUCH ACTIONS. THE PURPOSE OF THE FIRST PART OF THE STUDY WAS TO GATHER PREOMNIBUS EMPIRICAL DATA TO PROVIDE A BASIS FOR COMPARISON WITH DATA OBTAINED FROM SYSTEMS UTILIZING THE OMNIBUS HEARING PROCEDURE. THE STUDY WAS TERMINATED AFTER COMPLETION OF PHASE I; 'AFTER' DATA WERE NEVER OBTAINED, AND NO COMPARISON WAS ACTUALLY MADE. THE DATA WHICH WERE COLLECTED INVOLVED THE NORMAL OR BASELINE OPERATION OF THE COURTS OF GENERAL JURISDICTION OF TULSA, OKLAHOMA, AND BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, IN 1976 AND 1977. DATA WERE GATHERED IN VIEW OF THE HYPOTHESES THAT WITH THE OMNIBUS HEARING PROCEDURE: (1) THE PROCESSING OF CASES WOULD BE LESS COSTLY; (2) THE TIME LAPSE FROM INITIAL FILING TO DISPOSITION WOULD BE SHORTENED; (3) THE CASE DISPOSITIONS REACHED WOULD NOT BE MATERIALLY AFFECTED; AND (4) THE DEGREE OF CORRELATION BETWEEN EXTRALEGAL VARIABLES AND DISPOSITIONS WOULD NOT BE INCREASED. DATA WERE GATHERED FROM OBSERVATIONS OF COURT PROCESSES AND FROM COURT FILES. A SECTION ON METHODS REPORTS THE SAMPLING PROCEDURES USED, THE ITEMS OF INFORMATION ANALYZED, THE RELATIONSHIP OF THESE ITEMS TO THE HYPOTHESES, AND THE QUANTIFICATION OF THE ITEMS. RESULTS ARE PRESENTED SEPARATELY FOR THE TULSA AND THE BATON ROUGE DATA. THE RESULTS SECTIONS CONSIST OF: (1) DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DISTRIBUTIONS OF INDIVIDUAL ITEMS OF INFORMATION, GIVING THE MOST TYPICAL VALUES OF EACH ITEM; (2) CROSS-TABULATION OF THE OUTCOME MEASURES WITH TIME TO DETECT CHANGES IN THE LEVELS OF THESE ITEMS OVER TIME; AND (3) REGRESSION OR PREDICTION MODELS TO EXPLAIN VARIATIONS IN THESE OUTCOME MEASURES BY CONSIDERATION OF FACTORS OTHER THAN LAPSE OF TIME. APPENDIXES PRESENT ANALYSES PERFORMED ON THE TULSA AND THE BATON ROUGE DATA.