Chat with AI
Essentials of Criminal Justice 9th Edition by Larry Siegel ,John Worrall
Edition 9ISBN: 978-1285441528Essentials of Criminal Justice 9th Edition by Larry Siegel ,John Worrall
Edition 9ISBN: 978-1285441528 Exercise 1
No-Drop Prosecution: Does It Work?
Over time, prosecutors have been faced with a high rate of dismissals in domestic violence cases. The key problem is that victims often refuse to participate in the process and testify against their abusers. It sometimes proves difficult for prosecutors to secure convictions without the testimony from victims. In response to this problem, some jurisdictions have enacted so-called "no-drop prosecution" policies, also called "evidence-based" prosecution. These policies require prosecutors to bring charges against domestic abusers regardless of whether the victim participates. Calling them evidence-based means that if there is enough evidence (such as police reports and accounts of witnesses), then the prosecutor will bring charges even without the victim's testimony. No-drop prosecution policies have since "caught on," but do they work? Unfortunately, the evidence is not encouraging.
In a recent evaluation, researchers compared the rearrest rates of abusers in two different jurisdictions in New York: the Bronx and Brooklyn. In the Bronx, domestic violence cases are usually not pursued if the victim does not wish to participate. In Brooklyn, the opposite is true; if there is an arrest, charges are filed, regardless of the victim's wishes. After following defendants for six months, the researchers found basically no difference in rearrest rates. They cautiously concluded that no-drop prosecution does not lead to dramatic reductions in arrest patterns among offenders, and it is important to note that there is not much research in this area because the strategy is relatively new. The researchers did find that victims offered some support for evidence-based prosecution because it put the onus for taking a case forward on the prosecutor, not the victim: "Many of those who preferred that their cases not be prosecuted would not have minded if the prosecution proceeded without them; they wanted to avoid confronting the abusers in court and were wary of assuming the responsibility for ensuring that the abusers experienced penalties for their crimes."
CRITICAL THINKING
Should a domestic violence prosecution proceed even if it is against the will of the victim?
Over time, prosecutors have been faced with a high rate of dismissals in domestic violence cases. The key problem is that victims often refuse to participate in the process and testify against their abusers. It sometimes proves difficult for prosecutors to secure convictions without the testimony from victims. In response to this problem, some jurisdictions have enacted so-called "no-drop prosecution" policies, also called "evidence-based" prosecution. These policies require prosecutors to bring charges against domestic abusers regardless of whether the victim participates. Calling them evidence-based means that if there is enough evidence (such as police reports and accounts of witnesses), then the prosecutor will bring charges even without the victim's testimony. No-drop prosecution policies have since "caught on," but do they work? Unfortunately, the evidence is not encouraging.
In a recent evaluation, researchers compared the rearrest rates of abusers in two different jurisdictions in New York: the Bronx and Brooklyn. In the Bronx, domestic violence cases are usually not pursued if the victim does not wish to participate. In Brooklyn, the opposite is true; if there is an arrest, charges are filed, regardless of the victim's wishes. After following defendants for six months, the researchers found basically no difference in rearrest rates. They cautiously concluded that no-drop prosecution does not lead to dramatic reductions in arrest patterns among offenders, and it is important to note that there is not much research in this area because the strategy is relatively new. The researchers did find that victims offered some support for evidence-based prosecution because it put the onus for taking a case forward on the prosecutor, not the victim: "Many of those who preferred that their cases not be prosecuted would not have minded if the prosecution proceeded without them; they wanted to avoid confronting the abusers in court and were wary of assuming the responsibility for ensuring that the abusers experienced penalties for their crimes."
CRITICAL THINKING
Should a domestic violence prosecution proceed even if it is against the will of the victim?
Explanation
Verified
Verified
Case synopsis:
The prosecutors have fac...
Essentials of Criminal Justice 9th Edition by Larry Siegel ,John Worrall
Why don’t you like this exercise?
Other Minimum 8 character and maximum 255 character
Character 255
