Impact of Manhattan's Specialized Domestic Violence Court, Final Report

• NCJ Number: 209012
• Author(s): Richard R. Peterson Ph.D.
• Date Published: November 2004
• Length: 91 pages
• Corporate Author: New York City Criminal Justice Agency, Inc
• Sale Source: New York City Criminal Justice Agency, Inc
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

In examining the impact of Manhattan's (New York) specialized domestic violence court, this study focused on the effects of the court on case outcomes and the rearrest rate of domestic-violence offenders.

Abstract

All five boroughs of New York City now have specialized domestic violence (DV) courts to hear misdemeanor cases. This study focused on the DV courts in the borough of Manhattan. Among the key features of DV courts are assigning cases to a specialized calendar, screening for related prior cases, providing advocacy and services for victims, providing treatment programs for defendants, coordinating efforts with partner agencies, providing specialized training for court personnel, improving case management through information technology, and monitoring the defendant's behavior. DV courts usually require defendants to complete a batterer intervention program. This study examined changes in DV case outcomes between 1998, when DV cases were processed in courts with mixed dockets, and 2001, when DV cases were processed in DV courts. The analysis of outcomes focused on case dispositions, sentence outcomes, and the length of jail sentences. DV offender rearrest rates for new DV offenses were also determined. The conviction rate of 29 percent was the same both before and after the establishment of DV courts, and jail sentences were used slightly less in the DV courts. There was little evidence that DV courts significantly reduced the length of jail terms. The rearrest rate for DV offenses within 18 months of case disposition was higher after the DV court was established. This actually confirmed the expectations of the researchers, as they hypothesized that DV offenders would be monitored more closely after their sentencing in DV courts. Because the DV court in Manhattan improved the identification of DV arrests and the monitoring of DV offenders, rearrest data do not permit assessing whether the DV court had a deterrent effect on DV offenders. Extensive tables and 45 references