ROLE OF THE TRIAL COURTS IN THE CRIMINAL PROCESS AND THE GOALS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE - EMPIRICAL MEASURES UTILIZING COMPUTER SIMULATION

• NCJ Number: 12206
• Author(s): J HEARNE
• Date Published: 1972
• Length: 63 pages
• Corporate Author: Stanford University
• Publication Format: Document

Annotation

EFFECTS OF CRIMINAL TOTAL COURT SYSTEM UPON CRIMINAL JUSTICE GOALS IN LIGHT OF LIMITED ROLE AND FUNDING, AND WAYS OF CHANGING AND MEASURING EFFECTS.

Abstract

THE AIM OF THIS REPORT IS TO MEASURE THE EFFECTS THAT CRIMINAL TRIAL COURT SYSTEMS HAVE UPON 'INTANGIBLE' GOALS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SUCH AS DUE PROCESS AND EQUAL PROTECTION. PART I SPECULATES ABOUT THE ROLES OF THE CRIMINAL TRIAL COURTS IN CRIMINAL PROCESSING. THE AUTHOR FEELS THAT FROM A SYSTEMIC POINT OF VIEW THE TRIAL COURTS OCCUPY A PASSIVE ROLE IN CRIMINAL PROCESSING, WITH OTHER AGENCIES PRIMARILY RESPONSIBLE FOR DECISIONS WHICH ARE CONVENTIONALLY THOUGHT TO BE DELEGATED TO THE COURTS. HE SEES THE CAUSE AS AN IMBALANCED DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES WITHIN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. PART II IS AN ATTEMPT TO EVALUATE EMPIRICALLY THE EFFECTS THAT COURT ALLOCATIONS HAVE UPON THE GOALS OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. IT OUTLINES A GENERAL METHOD OF FINDING MEASURES AND CORRELATIONS BETWEEN CRIMINAL TRIAL COURT RESOURCE INPUTS AND TRIAL COURT PROCESSING OUTPUTS, AND ILLUSTRATES THE USE OF THE METHOD IN A SPECIFIC CASE. PART III PROPOSES A COMPUTER SIMULATION OF CRIMINAL TRIAL COURT PROCESSING BASED ON THE METHOD DEFINED IN PART II. THIS SECTION DESCRIBES THE GENERAL METHODOLOGY OF COMPUTER SIMULATION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE SYSTEMS AND THE FLOW OF CRIMINAL TRIAL COURT PROCESSING. AN OUTLINE OF THE OPERATION OF THE PROPOSED PROGRAM INCLUDES MATERIAL ON THE DATA REQUIREMENTS AND THE COMPUTER LANGUAGES AVAILABLE. THREE PAGES OF REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED.