Committee on Law and Justice Core Support

With core support from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the committee expects to increase scientific understanding of crime and civil justice issues by overseeing multiple panel studies and workshops in its areas of expertise, conducting seminars to promote theory development in emerging areas, providing a convening mechanism to guide the development, testing, and evaluation of crime prevention and control practices; encouraging the development of new research agendas in understudied areas, and providing advice on short term and long term research plans as needed. During the period to be covered by this request, oversight efforts will be focused on a variety of separately funded efforts, including previously funded projects:

1) a large scale evaluation of the programs of the National Institute of Justice
2) a workshop on deterrence and the death penalty

The committee also expects to have time to develop proposals for new studies in cooperation with NIJ or at the request of the Institute. Possible topics include:

1) the social science implications of new technologies in law enforcement;
2) improving understanding of crime trends in the United States;
3) a new study of the death penalty examining the empirical literature on administrative implementation issues, and errors in convictions.

Future committee activities under a new award may also focus on theory development in a specific area such as cyber crime, the use of new surveillance systems such as cameras in public spaces, interoperability in communications, the impact of less than lethal weapons (i.e. tasers) on users and the public, global corruption, terrorism, especially the precursors of radicalization; trafficking crimes; and public perceptions of crime. The committee holds at least two, one-day planning/business meetings per year. For 2009, in conjunction with one of these meetings, the CLAJ will conduct a seminar on a topic of emerging public interest and of mutual interest to the National Institute of Justice and the Committee.

This is the second year of funding to provide core support to the National Academies, Committee on Law and Justice.

ca/ncf