Prosecuting Domestic Violence Cases with Reluctant Victims in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1994-1995
Description
Officials in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, introduced two
experiments designed to provide answers to questions of how to deal
with victim reluctance in domestic violence cases. Two projects funded
by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) evaluated these Milwaukee
domestic violence experiments. The first project examined the
effectiveness of a specialized domestic violence court that opened in
September 1994. The primary intent of the specialized domestic
violence court was to speed up the disposition of cases. The second
project examined the impact of a change in the district attorney's
(DA's) screening policy that admitted more cases into the special
court, which became effective January 1, 1995. The liberalized
prosecutorial policy was intended to determine whether arrests that
the DA normally rejected for prosecution because victims failed to
attend the prosecutor's charging conference could be prosecuted
successfully none the less. The researchers collected data from three
time periods: (1) prior to September 1994, (2) between September 1994
and January 1995, and (3) post-Janurary 1995. For the first
experiment, several samples were selected from court and DA records to
assess the impact of the introduction of the special domestic violence
court and its impact after the change in the DA's charging policy.
These samples of domestic violence cases (court samples) filed by the
prosecutor included: (1) 237 cases from Summer 1994, (2) 190 cases
from Fall 1994, and (3) 242 cases from Spring 1995. For the second
experiment, three additional samples (complaint room samples) were
collected of domestic cases declined by the prosecutor to determine
how victim attendance at the charging conference and other factors
affected the decision to prosecute: (1) 152 cases from Summer 1994,
(2) 155 cases from Fall 1994, and (3) 152 cases from Spring 1995.
Variables in this dataset include if the case was filed, type of
charges, number of prior misdemeanors, number of prior felonies,
number of misdemeanors after, number of felonies after, number of
felony convictions, number of misdemeanor convictions, number of
subpoenas, number of judicial body attachment orders, whether the
victim was cooperative, if the victim testified, method of
disposition, type of disposition, time to disposition, time to
sentencing, sentencing conditions, if the defendant received jail or
prison time, if the defendant received probation time, number of
months incarcerated, number of months on probation, and several date
variables. Additional variables provide the sex of the defendant, the
relationship between the defendant and the victim, if the victim was
injured, if the victim was intoxicated, and use of a weapon.