Basic Issues in Courts Performance

• NCJ Number: 84430
• Author(s): T J Cook; R W Johnson; E Fried; J Gross; M Wagner; J Eisenstein
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 204 pages
• Grant Number(s): 78-NI-AX-0113
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: RTI International
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study develops a framework and methodology for constructing performance measures for metropolitan, adult felony courts. The system is applied to the pretrial release stage in an effort to meet the information needs of key decisionmakers and social groups.

Abstract

A common measuring system requires that courts share common goals and procedures. A survey of the literature on court administration, followed by site visits to a number of jurisdictions, showed that courts share similar case disposition tasks (for example, arraignment and determination of pretrial release eligibility). For study purposes, dimensions of court performance can be narrowed to generally agreed-upon categories such as efficiency, due process, equity, and crime control. Measures of performance include the expectations of courts' diverse constituencies, legal norms specifying criminal procedures, criticisms of the courts, and court-related organizations' objectives. These common areas form the basis of the model applied here to the pretrial release stage. Applying the model illustrates how actors in the pretrial release decision perceive and act their roles. A system for measuring performance should consider all the factors determining a decision as well as the outcome; designing such a system depends upon the availability of accurate data. Chapter references are included.