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Domestic Violence Courts: The Judicial Oversight Demonstration

A critical issue in domestic violence cases is the risk of continued victimization during the pretrial period. Offenders may violate no-contact orders, further injure victims, or intimidate them.

To explore a new way to minimize these risks, the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women and NIJ initiated the Judicial Oversight Demonstration, a field test that asked judges to take a more active role in managing domestic violence cases before trial.

In partnership with a number of court-related partners, judges oversaw all aspects of the case from hearings to sanctions and treatment programs given to batterers. Courts in three locations—Dorchester, Mass.; Milwaukee, Wisc.; and Ann Arbor, Mich.—participated in the field test.

JOD Evaluated. NIJ-funded researchers evaluated the Judicial Oversight Demonstration. [1] Findings from the evaluation are described below.

• What Changes Did Courts Make?
• What Strategies Helped Courts Implement the Project?
• What Challenges Arose?
• What Were the Benefits from JOD?

What Changes Did Courts Make?

The sites involved in the field test modified their arrest policies and treatment referral practices so each site would follow uniform and consistent responses, including:

• Pro-arrest policies—at the crime scene, officers were encouraged to arrest the primary aggressor.
• Coordination between victim advocacy and services—victim advocates worked with law enforcement and the court to develop a safety plan for the victim and provide treatment services.
• Strong accountability and oversight—courts carefully supervised arrestees, referred them to intervention programs and instituted penalties if arrestees violated the terms of their probation.

Court officials took time to enhance services for victims and batterers and reorganized procedures and practices. All courts:

• Required police officers to have experience working with domestic violence cases.
• Improved probation and batterer intervention services.
• Enhanced victim services.
• Coordinated services with community providers.
• Created specialized courtroom procedures.
• Asked prosecutors to expand their use of evidence.
• Recommended best practices prosecutors could use to make their cases stronger.
• Expedited procedures for protection order hearings.
• Regularly scheduled judicial review of probation compliance.

Each court prepared for the change in procedures and practices within the context of its local resources, needs and priorities. For example, some courts already had pro-arrest policies in place. Others needed guidance to understand how to implement a pro-arrest policy.

What Strategies Helped Courts Implement the Project?

Several strategies made the Judicial Oversight Demonstration work:

• A full-time project director organized meetings and planning sessions.
• Procedures for obtaining a protection order were expedited.
• Judges regularly reviewed batterers’ compliance with the terms of their probation.
• Planning sessions helped efficiently modify the court system and coordinate community responses to domestic violence.
• Courts maintained a wide network of partnerships with community organizations and treatment facilities.
• Judges, attorneys and law enforcement officers attended special training sessions with experts in domestic violence.
• Staff worked exclusively on domestic violence cases and became specialists in handling these kinds of cases.  

What Challenges Arose?

• Partner agencies did not understand one another’s operations, which led to challenges in coordinating prosecution and treatment programs.
• Changes initially overburdened many of the partners and their agencies.
• Agencies often ran into a lack of resources for expanding staff and providing training.
• Differences in computer systems made data-sharing difficult.
• Justice agencies and community service organizations had to accommodate clients’ needs for confidentiality.

What Were the Benefits from JOD?

• Improved victim services and well-being. The Judicial Oversight Demonstration increased community-based victim services. Victims in all sites:
  • Felt satisfied with the response of police, prosecutors and the court.
  • Felt that the project would help stop future violence.
  • Reported moderately high levels of safety and well-being 11 months after the incident.

• Increased offender accountability and changed perceptions. The Judicial Oversight Demonstration increased offender accountability. Offenders in the program:
  • Had more probation requirements than comparison offenders.
  • Complied with court orders to report to probation and batterer intervention programs more frequently than comparison offenders.
  • Were given harsher penalties for violations of some court-ordered requirements. These penalties were enforced more frequently than with comparison offenders.

• Some decrease in revictimization. The Judicial Oversight Demonstration was best able to reduce revicitimization when:
  • The offender was young (age 18 to 29).
  • The offender had a high number of prior arrests (seven or more).
  • The victim and offender did not have children together.
  • The victim and offender had been in a relationship for less than three years.