Examining the practical utility of a structured decision-making tool and its impact on actual case dispositions for juveniles charged with sexual offenses is an important question to answer. While research has confirmed that structured decision-making contributes to positive youth and system outcomes, addressing how well these broad policies serve specific groups of offenders, such as juveniles charged with sexual offenses, has not yet received adequate empirical attention. Therefore, this dissertation sought to examine the strengths and limitations of using Florida's statewide disposition recommendation policies for juveniles who have been charged with sexual offenses. Specifically, the study sought to examine 1) the association between delinquency risk to reoffend and disposition alignment with the disposition recommendation provided by the FDJJ among juveniles charged with a sex offense and juveniles charged with other against-person felony offenses, 2) differences in dynamic risk domains across disposition match among juveniles charged with a sex offense and juveniles charged with other against-person felony offenses, and 3) whether being charged with a sex offense, compared to being charged with other against-person felony offenses, increased the likelihood that a juvenile would receive residential commitment. To answer these questions, administrative data was obtained from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. The data included juveniles whose cases were disposed in Florida between 2012 and 2017 and included juveniles who were charged with sex offenses and juveniles who were charged with other against-person felony offenses. A variety of bivariate (crosstabs, chi-squares, ANOVAs) and multivariate (logistic regression) statistical techniques were employed. The results of the proposed study may be used to improve Florida juvenile justice disposition recommendation practices for juveniles who have committed sexually-related offenses.

While many automated police data sharing systems have been implemented since the attacks of September 11, 2001, when police data sharing was announced to be a priority for law enforcement, little research is available concerning the impact of such systems on the ability of the police to solve crimes. To remedy this gap, this study evaluates the Federated Integrated Network for Data Exchange and Retrieval (FINDER) – an automated police data sharing system currently used by a large number of Florida and Alabama police agencies with development underway across the US. This research is the first study evaluating a police data sharing system using objective measures. As such, rather than using user perceptions about the data sharing system's effectiveness, as most of the existing studies have done in the past, this study uses Uniform Crime Report (UCR) offense clearance rates as an objective measure of police performance. Based on the existing literature, it is hypothesized in this study that the use of a police data sharing system improves the police agency's offense clearance rates. To test a set of hypotheses, panel data containing information on 99 police agencies collected annually over the course of 30 years – 1990 through 2019 – are analyzed using fixed effects models. The results of this research suggest that the use of a police data sharing system improves police agency total offense clearance rates as well as property offense clearance rates. No evidence is found to support the hypothesis that the use of a data sharing system improves violent offense clearance rates. This dissertation overviews the limitations of this study and implications of its findings and concludes with a set of recommendations for policymakers and police practitioners as well as suggests topics for future research.

When a defendant is arrested, they can choose to either hire a private attorney to represent them, have appointed counsel such as a public defender, or have no representation. While the Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to counsel regardless of a defendant’s ability to pay, this counsel is not always required at first appearance. In fact, only 14 states have made it a requirement to have counsel at first appearance, and even in those states, counsel is not always appointed immediately. However, at first appearance, the judge determines whether to release the defendant pending trial, and if the defendant is released, whether to release them on their own recognizance or have them post bail. Accordingly, at first appearance someone’s freedom could be revoked without representation of counsel. Furthermore, even if a defendant is offered bail that doesn’t mean they can always post it. In fact, defendants remain detained for bail amounts as low as $100. Previous studies have explored the impact of being detained pending trial on case outcome and sentencing. The present study uses misdemeanor crimes in Orange County, Florida from 2018 to explore whether the type of representation (private attorney, public defender, or no representation) a defendant had at their first appearance impacted their initial release decisions. Furthermore, this study analyzes whether the type of representation impacted case dismissals, whether the defendant received a jail or fine sentence, and the sentence length and fine amount. Using multiple linear regressions and linear probability models, this study found that type of counsel did not impact release decisions, bail amounts, and fine amounts. However, there were significant differences for case dismissals – on average, having a private attorney was associated with a greater likelihood of having the case dismissed when compared to those without representation and to those with a public defender. In addition, having a private attorney versus a public defender was, on average, associated with a seven-day lower jail sentence. Moreover, on average, having a private attorney was associated with a lower probability of receiving a jail sentence (the most severe punishment) as compared to those without representation and those with a public defender. Having a public defender was associated with a greater likelihood of receiving a jail sentence as compared to those without representation.

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This thesis contains a historical overview of Florida's education program with an examination of legislation, policy development, and case law. Legal disputes result in policy and code changes in Florida school districts. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the dominant weak link leading to the circumstances upon which Florida schools are compelled to litigate. The roles of administrators, faculty, staff, parents, students, and those who are contracted to provide services are examined, as well as policy issues. The methodology consists of relevant literature review of statutes, cases, and articles within the past ten years and a survey circulated to school board attorneys requesting key information about the five most recent cases that have either settled or been adjudicated. Documentation reviewed reflects that the legislature, in cooperation with the Florida Department of Education, has' built an infrastructure creating better communication with school communities in order to identify and make necessary changes for school improvement. The data collected from this study is aimed at assisting administrators and school board attorneys, as well as other interested parties, to identify major issues commonly litigated against Florida K-12 public schools, determine the problematic circumstances causing the litigation, and formulate suggestions for resolution.

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This student-friendly introductory text describes the criminal justice process―outlining the decisions, practices, people, and issues involved. It provides a solid introduction to the mechanisms of the criminal justice system, with balanced coverage of the issues presented by each facet of the process, including a thorough review of practices and controversies in law enforcement, the criminal courts, and corrections. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1022/thumbnail.jpg

As a restut of British colonization and their attempts to govern a variety of different cultures many nations now share a common bond in their criminal justice systems. This research focuses on the impact of some of those common bonds on the South African and United States criminal justice systems. Along with many national historical similarities there appears to be similarities in the approaches these two governments have taken to remedy criminal justice issues that arise. Political interference, lack of cooperation, poor communication skills, interagency discord and a lack of unified direction seem to plague both criminal justice systems. As a resulc both criminal justice systems appear: to be fragmented and in a constant state of flux. One solution that attempts to remedy the mistrust developed by individual citizens and their communities as a result of the fragmentation of their criminal justice system is community policing. Both nations are embarking on a concept that was proposed by Sir Robert Peel in 1829 when he espoused the ideal of Police, at all times, should maintain a relasionship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police. The fragmentation which causes many of the dilemmas faced by the criminal justice system appears to be a necessary element of any system that wishes to be able to grow and change with time. As we embark on the 21st century, globalization w1ll become a factor in every surviving national goverernment. South Africa and the United States appear co be positioning themselves to be active patcipants in this process / Criminology and Security Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Criminology)