NCJ Number
81148
Date Published
1981
Length
133 pages
Annotation
This report by a committee of judges, scholars, and lawyers appointed by Chief Justice Warren Burger addresses the ethical and legal problems associated with program experiments in the legal system. It is directed toward persons considering experimental change in the operation of courts, probation, parole, and corrections systems.
Abstract
Program experiments are alterations to the actual operation of the justice system designed to show whether such an alteration would be an improvement over the status quo. The committee maintains that program experiments must be evaluated as a segment in the ongoing process of administration of justice and as an effort to improve it, and also as one of the choices available to justice system administrators. The committee offers principles for determining ethics and legality in experimentation, as well as procedures for developing an accessible body of judgments made on a case-by-case basis. The report recommends that in deciding whether or not to undertake a program experiment, the decisionmaker should consider whether the circumstances justify its use. In addition, the adequacy of the experimental designs must be established. The report briefly presents the theory and methods of experimental research design, illustrating the ways in which different experiments may or may not yield sufficiently precise and unambiguous results. The ethical problems involved in experimental designs must be considered, as well as alternatives for resolution. Two principles, equal treatment and respect for persons, can guide decisions on ethics. The kind of analysis that may properly be employed in certain situations is illustrated, and the report notes that some experiments may be impossible to justify because their harm to subjects exceeds benefits to others. Because of the nature of a particular program experiment, informed consent is not always an essential requirement for subject participation -- although consent is always preferred. Finally, the report analyzes the elements of authority that are preconditions to undertaking program experiments and suggests procedures to ensure that such authority exists. Appendixes include a letter and a discussion of methods for empirical evaluation of innovations in the justice system. Footnotes and an index are provided.