Program Profile: New York's Criminal Domestic Violence Courts

The program is a problem-solving court that operate a specialized caseload for domestic violence-related cases only, and for which eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis. Criminal domestic violence courts tend to be more common throughout the U.S. The program is rated Ineffective. The criminal domestic violence courts in New York statistically significantly reduced case-processing time, but there was no statistically significant impact on recidivism.

An Ineffective rating implies that implementing the program is unlikely to result in the intended outcome(s).

An Ineffective rating implies that implementing the program is unlikely to result in the intended outcome(s).

Program Goals

Domestic violence (DV) courts are specialized, problem-solving courts that specifically handle domestic violence cases. DV courts operate on their own court calendar and cases are usually presided over by one judge who is specially assigned to the court. This allows the judge to gain specialized knowledge and expertise in unique aspects related to domestic violence cases, ultimately promoting more consistent and informed decisions over time. The goals of DV courts include holding people accountable for illegal behavior and reducing their recidivism, protecting the safety of DV victims, and increasing the consistency of DV case dispositions and sentences. 

There are over 200 DV courts operating across the United States. The state of New York is home to 64 DV courts (Cissner, Labriola, and Rempel 2013). New York State has criminal and integrated DV courts. Criminal DV courts tend to be more common throughout the United States, and operate a specialized caseload for which eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis and includes DV-related cases only. Integrated DV courts are similar, but place criminal, family, and matrimonial cases involving the same family before one judge. Both types of DV courts focus on rehabilitating the person and typically act as a diversion option in lieu of a jail sentence. 

Target Population/Eligibility

To be eligible for the criminal DV court in New York, a family must have had at least one criminal DV offense, most often in the form of intimate partner violence. The eligibility criteria across the DV courts in New York vary by court. For example, some courts accept elder abuse cases, child abuse cases, cases involving violence between other family members (e.g., siblings), and cases of violence between non-intimate partners who live together. Some courts accept only misdemeanants, while other courts accept only felons. Only a few courts accept both misdemeanants and felons.

Program Components

The following program elements are part of the criminal DV court model:

Special Sentencing Conditions: Typically, criminal DV courts in New York include a protective order as part of the final sentence. Some courts require convicted persons to also attend batterer intervention or other commonly mandated programs, such as alcohol or substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, parenting classes, and anger management.

Offender Assessment: On occasion, New York DV courts will include formalized offender assessments that cover a range of issues such as drug use, mental health issues, sociodemographic background, service needs, risk for repeat violence and/or lethality, or a history of victimization.

Supervision and Compliance: Sometimes convicted persons in New York criminal DV courts are mandated to probation. Judicial supervision is common, and includes regular status hearings before a judge who is able to implement various sanctions and incentives for compliance-monitoring purposes.

Dedicated Staffing: Criminal DV courts in New York have at least one judge dedicated to the caseload. The judge acts similarly to a case manager and meets regularly with clients to ensure compliance with conditions of probation and the DV court program. Additionally, the judge engages with clients to help them better understand the requirements of the DV court, including incentives, sanctions, and restrictions regarding victim interaction. 

Victim Safety and Services: Typically, there is at least one victim advocate dedicated to the domestic violence caseload. Victim advocates serve as the primary contact to victims and act as a liaison between victims and the court. Advocates also assist in creating safety plans and coordinating housing, counseling, and other social services for victims. They also are available to provide victims with information regarding criminal proceedings and help them to understand special conditions of their protection order (New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services 2015).

Key Personnel

Important personnel include a trained and dedicated DV court judge, prosecutor, public defender, victim advocates, probation officers, and other court staff who appear regularly at DV court status hearings.

Study

Cissner, Labriola, and Rempel (2013) used a quasi-experimental design to evaluate effects of 24 criminal domestic violence (DV) courts throughout the state of New York. Thirteen of the courts accept elder abuse cases, while nine accept child abuse cases, 12 accept cases involving violence between other family members (e.g., siblings), and two accept cases of violence between non-intimate partners who live together. Eighteen of the 24 courts accept only misdemeanants, while five accept only felons, and one court accepts both. Eighteen of the 24 courts accept only misdemeanants, while five accept only felons, and one court accepts both. To be eligible for DV court, a family must have had at least one criminal DV offense, most often in the form of intimate partner violence.

Outcomes were compared between matched samples of defendants, equally distributed by four strata: New York City sites (7), suburban sites (4), upstate cities (4), and upstate semi-rural/rural sites. The treatment group comprised defendants from the 24 DV courts, while the comparison group was drawn from defendants in conventional courts operating in the same 24 jurisdictions. The treatment group was selected from all cases that were arrested and processed during the first 2 calendar years of court operations. Similarly, the comparison group defendants were chosen from cases processed in conventional courts during the 2 full calendar years preceding the opening of the specialized court. Propensity score matching was used to ensure baseline equivalence between the two groups regarding population density, criminal history information, current charges, and demographic information.

Recidivism was measured based on re-arrest within 3 years for any charge of seriousness (e.g., misdemeanor or felony) and charge type (e.g., domestic violence incident, domestic violence incident with same victim, violent offense, and drug offense). Case-processing time also was measured by the number of days between arrest and disposition. No subgroup analysis was conducted.

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

Labriola, Melissa, Sarah Bradley, Chris S. O’Sullivan, Michael Rempel, and Samantha Moore. 2009. A National Portrait of Domestic Violence Courts. New York, N.Y.: Center for Court Innovation.