Examining the Effect of Different Case Screening Practices Upon Domestic Violence Recidivism

Widespread adoption of pro-arrest policies by police and adoption of tougher prosecutor stances in domestic violence cases have seriously taxed the resources of prosecutors in the last decade. One way in which many prosecutors have adapted to the strain is to decline to file arrests in which victims expressed unwillingness to cooperate with prosecutors. Today, there are widely divergent views among prosecutors about whether cases ought to be filed regardless of whether that is what victims seem to want. This research will take place in two sites in New York City where prosecutors have adopted different screening policies: Kings County (Brooklyn) and the County of the Bronx. However, since the sites are comparable in many other ways (including police arrest policies, court rules and administration, and state laws and requirements), there will be a strong quasi-experimental design. The researchers plan to track a sample of cases that the prosecutor declined to prosecute in one borough (Bronx) and a sample of similar cases that were prosecuted in the other borough (Brooklyn). They will test for differences between the samples in recidivism, stalking behavior, women's satisfaction with the justice system, utilization of victim services, willingness to report future incidents, victim empowerment and allocation of prosecutor and court resources. ca/ncf