Category Archives: Criminal Law

RAND Randomized Study of Murder Representation Shows Much Better Outcomes for Salaried Defenders Than Assigned Counsel

Posted on December 27, 2011 by richardzorza

A newly released report from RAND, summarized in a NYT editorial, reports radically better outcomes for public defender represented murder defendants that those assigned to a private lawyer. The Philadelphia study was randomized, removing most of the likely methodological objections.  … Continue reading →

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Very Important and Promising Leaderhip Appointment at Open Society Foundations

Posted on December 7, 2011 by richardzorza

The Open Society Foundations has announced its new head: Chris Stone.  While OSF and Chris will surely have an agenda that goes way beyond access to justice, it is promising that the Institute, vast in its international reach, will be … Continue reading →

Posted in Criminal Law, Funding, International Models, Research and Evalation, Systematic Change | Tagged | Comments Off on Very Important and Promising Leaderhip Appointment at Open Society Foundations

Bi-Partisan Support for Senencing Reform and Re-Entry Programs

Posted on August 13, 2011 by richardzorza

The ACLU as a nice report out, highlighting how even the more conservative states are embracing sentencing reform as a way of saving money on incarceration.  It highlights reforms in Texas, Mississippi, Kansas, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Ohio. The NYT … Continue reading →

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Public Defender Versus Assigned Counsel, Implications for Mixed Model Advocacy

Posted on August 1, 2011 by richardzorza

Thomas Cohen, at the NIJ Bureau of Justice Statistics, has published an interesting study on who is most effective at criminal defense. Bottom line, from the abstract: Specifically, this paper examines whether there are differences between defense counsel type and … Continue reading →

Posted in Criminal Law, Metrics, Mixed Model, Research and Evalation, Systematic Change | 1 Comment

Defender Services for Arrested Defendants — US and UK Comparison

Posted on June 27, 2011 by richardzorza

As part of the UK governing coalition’s attempt to cut the UK legal aid budget by 350 million pounds (about US$500 million), the possibility is being raised of introducing means testing of the provision of the currently universally available solicitors … Continue reading →

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Recidivism Versus Redemption: Risk of Re-Arrest Falls Over Time, To Less Than in Overall General Population

Posted on April 29, 2011 by richardzorza

Obviously, risk of rearrest is a huge issue in terms of the steps that are considered appropriate to keep those with criminal records integrated into society.  NTY has a piece on the relative lack of rationality of many of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Criminal Law, Research and Evalation, Self-Help Services | Tagged | Comments Off on Recidivism Versus Redemption: Risk of Re-Arrest Falls Over Time, To Less Than in Overall General Population