NCJ Number
114007
Date Published
1988
Length
14 pages
Annotation
The director of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) describes research efforts designed to reduce court costs and increase the speed and efficiency with which cases are processed without sacrificing fairness.
Abstract
Some examples of recent innovations are the use of video recording of trials instead of preparing transcripts and the use of videotaped depositions of child sexual abuse victims. Experimental court research poses special difficulties, but these difficulties are not always insuperable. One proposed experiment involved the random assignment of misdemeanor cases to mediation or to court processing. Another experiment involves the temporary use of lawyers as volunteer judges. Three new technologies now under examination are pretrial drug testing, which is being used extensively in the District of Columbia; the use of electronically monitored home confinement, which is now being used in 32 states; and the use of day fines, which are based on the person's income rather than on fixed amounts. NIJ would welcome proposal for further research related to courts.