Courts

Fair and expeditious delivery of justice is the goal of criminal courts. Judges and court administrators are responsible for management that supports this goal. Increasingly, managers also play key roles in special court-based programs that target offenders who commit drug offenses and domestic violence.

Rapidly changing technological developments in forensics and digital evidence demand that court practitioners and judges have a working familiarity and sometimes expertise in these emerging fields.

To inform and assist policymakers and practitioners grappling with the myriad issues and demands of today’s criminal courts, the National Institute of Justice supports research and evaluation on:

• Court operations and case management.
• Specialized courts such as drug courts and domestic violence courts.
• Prosecution and defense.
• Sentencing.
• Court technologies.

NIJ’s courts portfolio identifies and evaluates:

• What works—Standards and best practices for court operations and case management and how to enhance service delivery and program impact while achieving cost savings.
• Improvements to court operations and case management such as victim witness assistance, pretrial services, and sharing across agencies.
• Sentencing and case processing procedures to help judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys with such concerns as how to predict an offender’s risk of recidivism or achieve equity in sentencing.

NIJ supports research, evaluation, testing, and commercialization of technologies to enhance court operations and security, and produces guides and online training to help prosecutors and judges stay abreast of the latest forensics.