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COURT DOCKET DATA: A RESEARCH TREASURE TROVE April 11, 2013. Max Schlueter, Ph.D. Vermont Center for Justice Research. PREVIEW What is court docket data? How can you use court docket data? Strategies for obtaining court docket data Important data fields to request - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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PO Box 267, Northfield Falls, VT 05664 Voice: 802.485.4250www. vcjr.org
Max Schlueter, Ph.D.Vermont Center for Justice Research
COURT DOCKET DATA: A RESEARCH TREASURE TROVE
April 11, 2013
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-42502
• PREVIEW◦ What is court docket data?◦ How can you use court docket data?◦ Strategies for obtaining court docket data◦ Important data fields to request◦ A system for data transfer and transformation
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-42503
What Is Court Docket Data?• Records that the
courts use to document ◦ Defendants◦ Charges◦ Dispositions◦ Sentences
• All activity related to a case
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-42504
How Can You Use Court Docket Data• “What’s the going rate for XXXX?
• Sentencing Practices
• Policy & Planning
• Throughput Analysis
• Time Series Analysis
• Program Evaluation
• Disproportional Minority Contact
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-42505
What’s The Going Rate?
Vermont State-Wide Sentencing Statistics 2008-2012
13 VSA 1201 (a) Burglary Minimum Years Maximum Years Days to Serve Mean Median Mode Mean Median Mode Mean Median ModeStraight (N=633) 2.28 2 2 7.64 7 5 Split (N=157) 2.9 2 2 6.8 6 5 176.91 91.5 60Probation (N=86) 1.76 2 2 5.15 4.25 5 Deferred (N=263) 3.4 3 3
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-42506
Sentencing Practices: Race & Sentencing
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-42507
Sentencing Practices: Legislative Hearings
Sentences 18 VSA 4230(a)(1) 2008-2012 SENTENCE Total
INCARCERATION SPLIT PROBATION FINE DEFERRED MISSING
County Addison 15 6 32 117 8 4 182Bennington 42 7 60 91 12 2 214Caledonia 31 6 36 56 11 9 149Chittenden 61 15 76 118 97 0 367Essex 1 2 2 8 1 1 15Franklin 32 7 28 113 6 3 189Grand Isle 2 0 5 12 4 0 23Lamoille 28 3 19 56 14 3 123Orange 8 0 1 29 4 1 43Orleans 29 3 15 85 11 4 147Rutland 71 2 36 114 23 0 246Washington 69 5 27 91 5 2 199Windham 39 3 15 182 3 1 243Windsor 44 2 21 176 19 2 264
Total 472 61 373 1248 218 32 2404
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-42508
Policy Analysis: Juvenile Justice
Interactive Graphic Juvenile Crime Charge Dispositions
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-42509
Throughput Analysis: DUI
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-425010
Time Series AnalysisTime to Disposition
15
24
15
89
14
3 0 03
8
16
109
34
17
3 10
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
<1 1-3 4-6 7-9 10-12 13-26 27-52 53- 104 >104Weeks
Num
ber o
f Cas
es
IDVD District Court
Figure 2
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-425011
Time Series Analysis
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-425012
Program Evaluation: SIU
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-425013
Disproportionate Minority ContactData Items Rate of
Occurrence - White Youth
Rate of Occurrence -
Minority Youth
1. Refer to Juvenile Court 108.33 69.44
2. Cases Diverted 38.91 12.00
3. Cases Involving Secure Detention 64.50 152.00
4. Cases Petitioned (Charge Filed) 86.39 84.00
5. Cases Resulting in Delinquent Findings 39.55 61.90
6. Cases resulting in Probation Placement 107.36 61.54
7. Cases Resulting in Confinement in Secure Juvenile Correctional Facilities 2.16 7.69
8. Cases Transferred to Adult Court 50.68 76.19
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-425014
Strategies For Obtaining Court Docket Data• Do some homework:
◦ The details of Court organization / authority◦ Court MIS◦ Is court docket data subject to the Public Record Law◦ It may be available, but is it free?◦ How much work is involved for the court?
• The “Trusted Partner” Concept
• Bang for the buck: One abstract, many users
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-425015
Strategies For Obtaining Court Docket Data• Know:
◦ What data you want◦ In what format you want it◦ How often you want it◦ How will you protect it
• Be flexible
• Be willing to start small
• Be prepared to sign an MOU
• Build a strong relationship with the Court’s IT staff
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-425016
Important Data Fields to Request• Docket #s
• Agency case numbers
• Defendant Data◦ Personal identifiers: Name, DOB, Court ID#, SID#◦ Descriptive Demographics: Race, Gender, Zip Code
• Dates
• Charges
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-425017
Important Data Fields to Request• Disposition Data:
◦ Diversion, conviction, not guilty, dismissed by prosecuting attorney, dismissed by court
• Sentencing Data◦ Incarceration, splits, probation, fines,◦ Minimum & Maximum Sentences
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-425018
A System for Data Transfer & Transformation• Court extracts data
• Court loads the data on their FTP Site
• SAC downloads the data to staging database
• SAC imports data into SPSS
• SAC conducts data quality checks
• SAC adds value to the data by creating new variables and recoding data
• SAC merges new file to production database
COURT DOCKET DATA
Vermont Center for Justice Research www.vcjr.org 802-485-425019
CONTACT INFORMATION
Max SchlueterVermont Center for Justice Research
