CJA’s Research and Evidence-Based Practice Department maintains an active portfolio of applied research and evaluation on essential questions and emerging issues in pretrial justice. Our research seeks to inform policy and practice, advance public debate, and improve Agency operations. CJA’s work offers a comprehensive compendium of pretrial justice data in New York City, that includes both public facing briefs and peer-reviewed academic articles on a range of important topics, including trends in court processing, the experiences of juveniles, alternatives to pretrial detention, and interventions to enhance court appearance. Three key principles guide CJA researchers’ work: respect, transparency, and confidentiality. These principles are particularly important given the inherent sensitivity of the criminal justice data with which we work.

Our Research and Evidence-Based Practice Department endeavors to uphold the principle of respect by clearly informing all research participants about their rights and the ways in which their information might be used. Stigmatizing language that assigns unwanted labels to participants is avoided, and obtaining informed consent from individuals is a central component of our ethics. We adhere to strict guidelines regarding Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval of human subjects research, and any CJA employee who engages in IRB-reviewed studies, regardless of department, receives appropriate training in research ethics and human subjects protection.

We adhere to the principle of transparency through careful documentation of all data sources, collection procedures, and statistical methods. We maintain a firm commitment to intellectual independence and objectivity, and our researchers – many of whom are doctoral-level experts in quantitative or qualitative analysis – strive for the highest methodological rigor in all our work. At the same time, we seek to clearly communicate our findings, as well as the limitations of our findings, to diverse audiences of policymakers, practitioners, advocates, and members of our community. We often publish succinct research briefs in tandem with our more comprehensive reports to facilitate communication of relevant findings, and to ensure that our research is not misunderstood.

Finally, confidentiality is a central tenet of our research ethics, and the security of personal information is of paramount importance in all our work. All personally identifiable data with which the research team works is stored securely, in accordance with all relevant laws and regulations, and project team members are trained in data security protocols. Our published studies focus on aggregate findings, and all written products are carefully reviewed to help ensure that individual research participants cannot be identified.

By upholding these principles and working collaboratively with other departments at CJA – including Supervised Release, Outreach, Pretrial Services, and Information Technology – CJA’s Research and Evidence-Based Practice Department advances data-driven innovations to reduce pretrial detention and other unnecessary impediments to the pretrial liberty of individuals.

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