RT Article
T1 Drug Courts and Net-Widening in U.S. Cities: A Reanalysis Using Propensity Score Matching
JF Criminal justice policy review
VO 31
IS 2
SP 287
OP 308
A1 Lilley, David R.
A2 Tucker-Gail, Kasey
A2 Stewart, Megan C. 1980-
LA English
YR 2020
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1774385449
AB Although drug courts were intended to reduce the justice system involvement of drug offenders, a recent study found evidence that drug courts were associated with increased (rather than decreased) arrests for minor misdemeanor drug offenses (Lilley, 2017; Walsh, 2011). However, the previous study did not utilize an equivalent comparison group and may have relied on a large sample size to generate findings. The current study tested the robustness of those findings by analyzing only cities with over 50,000 population, including four additional years of data, and utilizing a more equivalent comparison group that was propensity-matched to reduce the possibility that a preexisting difference may have generated higher arrest outcomes among drug court jurisdictions. Net-widening, arrest, and crime challenges and implications for drug court policies and law enforcement roles are also discussed.
K1 Arrest
K1 Drug Court
K1 Drug Enforcement
K1 Policy
K1 Substance Use
DO 10.1177/0887403419828045