The SPRING Project: Domestic Violence Courts

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The SPRING Project: Aiding Victim Services Professionals

THE SPRING PROJECT: Domestic Violence Resources
Specialized Domestic Violence Courts

Creating a Domestic Violence Court: Guidelines and Best Practices

By Emily Sack, JD. Available from the Family Violence Prevention Fund

Domestic Violence : Court-Mandated Perpetrator Assessment and Treatment Handbook and CD-ROM

Domestic Violence Law

Handbook of Domestic Violence Intervention Strategies: Policies, Programs, and Legal Remedies

Evaluating Services for Survivors of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault

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Domestic Violence Courts: General

Specialized Domestic Violence Court Systems. Stop Violence Against Women (2003).

Specialized Courts and Domestic Violence. By Kristin Little, consultant on "Violence Against Women" issues for the Office on Violence Against Women at the U.S. Department of Justice.Issues of Democracy, May 2003.

Domestic Violence: Components and Considerations. Although domestic violence courts are similar to other collaborative justice courts in many ways, it is important to note that there may be significant differences. For example, in domestic matters, victim safety is a particularly serious concern. Assessing the effectiveness of various approaches to addressing victim safety and perpetrator accountability poses significant challenges for courts and court-connected services. This article in the Administrative Office of the Courts' Journal of the Center for Families, Children & the Courts, addresses these issues in greater detail.

Integrated Domestic Violence Courts

Implementing an Integrated Domestic Violence Court: Systemic Change in the District of Columbia. From the National Center for State Courts, June 30,2000.

One Family, One Judge: Integrated Domestic Violence Court from the New York State Unified Court System which exists to handle all related cases pertaining to a single family where the underlying issue is domestic violence.

New Domestic Violence Court. From the Tompkins County (NY) Bar Association. September 2003.

The Pros and Cons of the Integrated Domestic Violence (IDV) Court. By Beth Levy for Westchester Now, Summer 2002

Criminal Domestic Violence Courts

King's County Felony Domestic Violence Court Research Partnership: Exploring Implementation and Early Impacts. Michele Sviridoff, Fund for the City of New York and Lisa Newmark, The Urban Institute. Study from October 1, 1997 through March 31, 1999 for the National Institute of Justice.

Demonstration Projects: The Brooklyn Felony Domestic Violence Court. Opened in June 1996, adjudicates all indicted domestic violence felonies in the borough of Brooklyn. From the Center for Court Innovation.

Specialized Felony Domestic Violence Courts: Lessons on Implementation and Impacts from the Kings County Experience from the Urban Institute Justice Policy Center, Research Report, October 2001.

Domestic Violence Court Praised. Associated Press article from the Charleston (SC) Post and Courier, February 15, 2003.

Specialized Criminal Domestic Violence Courts. This article provides a basic overview of issues involved in the specialization of criminal domestic courts. To provide a framework for the study of these types of courts, this paper profiles the criminal domestic violence courts of Seattle, Washington, Sacramento, California, and Vancouver, Washington. These three courts are representative of four basic models for specialization.

Developing & Operating a Domestic Violence Court

Creating a Domestic Violence Court: Combat in the Trenches. By R.B. Fritzler and L.M.J. Simon. Court Review, Volume 37, Issue 28 (2000).

Domestic Violence Courts Policies and Procedures Manual from the 26th Judicial District, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Domestic Violence Committee, 2nd edition (2001).

What Makes a Domestic Violence Court Work? Key Issues. By Robyn Mazur and Liberty Aldrich. Judges (2002). From the Center for Court Innovation

What Makes a Domestic Violence Court Work? Lessons from New York. By Robyn Mazur and Liberty Aldrich. Judges Journal, Volume 2, Issue 42 (Spring 2003). From the Center for Court Innovation

Assessment & Evaluation

A Process Evaluation of the Clark County Domestic Violence Court. By Randall Kleinhesselink, Department of Psychology, Washington State University, Vancouver and Clayton Mosher, Department of Sociology, Washington State University. Vancouver. March, 2003

Viewpoints on the Trial Court's Response to Domestic Violence. Report of the Domestic Violence Court Assessment Project, Administrative Office of the Trial Court, Massachusetts, August 2003.

The Lexington County Domestic Violence Court: a Partnership and Evaluation. Research report to the National Institute of Justice and the Lexington County Sheriff's Office. Dept of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of South Carolina.

Program Examples

California Domestic Violence Courts: A Descriptive Study . The Judicial Council's report (per Family Code section 6390) on what courts are doing to meet the challenge of domestic violence, including a summary of current court procedures and efforts to enhance the safety of children and victims, to ensure the accountability of batterers.

Utah: Domestic Violence Courts. The creation of the first Domestic Violence Court in Third District Court (Salt Lake) in 1997 was an attempt to combat the problems associated with domestic violence as well as to acknowledge that domestic violence is indeed a crime and will not be permitted. Prior to the establishment of Domestic Violence courts, judges noticed that the same offenders were consistently reappearing in court. By creating an environment that dealt specifically with domestic violence, it was hoped that unified treatment and reviews of offenders would reduce the number of repeat offenders.

An Overview of Florida's Criminal Justice Specialized Courts. Prepared by the Florida Senate's Criminal Justice Committee Staff.