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Criminal Justice

LibGuide to Criminal Justice resources at Sims Memorial Library.

Web Resources

National Criminal Justice Reference Service Sites

 National Criminal Justice Reference Service   The National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) is a federally funded resource offering justice and substance abuse information to support research, policy, and program development worldwide.

NCJRS Library/Abstracts   The NCJRS Library/Abstracts contains "summaries of more than 210,000 justice and substance abuse resources." It also provides a thesaurus to assist in selecting relevant search terms for the NCJRS Abstracts Database.

National Institute of Justice –  From their website's About Page: "NIJ is the research, development and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice."

"We are dedicated to improving knowledge and understanding of crime and justice issues through science. We provide objective and independent knowledge and tools to inform the decision-making of the criminal and juvenile justice communities to reduce crime and advance justice, particularly at the state and local levels."

Statistics

Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) – Provides crime data "critical to federal, state, and local policymakers in combating crime and ensuring that justice is both efficient and evenhanded."

FBI–Crime in the United States –  This page from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports provides crime reports by year.

FBI–Uniform Crime Reports From their web site: "The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program was conceived in 1929 by the International Association of Chiefs of Police to meet a need for reliable, uniform crime statistics for the nation. In 1930, the FBI was tasked with collecting, publishing, and archiving those statistics. Today, several annual statistical publications, such as the comprehensive Crime in the United States, are produced from data provided by nearly 17,000 law enforcement agencies across the United States."

FEDSTATS  This government-produced site provides powerful linking and search utilities to facilitate access to statistical information from any federal statistics agency without requiring that users know in advance which agency compiles or produces the information. Statistics are also available with state and county level crime reports.

Justice Research and Statistics Association – From their site: "The Justice Research and Statistics Association is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to the use of nonpartisan research and analysis to inform criminal and juvenile justice decision making. We are comprised of a network of researchers and practitioners throughout government, academia, and the justice community."

National Archive of Criminal Justice Data  The National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) "acquires, archives, processes, and provides access to computer-readable criminal justice data collections for research and instruction." The NACJD website provides access to over 700 criminal justice data collections.

Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics  This comprehensive work, presented for the broad criminal justice community, provides previously-compiled state, local, and/or federal statistics on crime and law, police, prosecution and defense, and courts and corrections.

United States Census BureauThis site provides extensive, current statistical data and related information compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau. The American FactFinder link provides nationwide data under various topics, while State & County QuickFacts link facilitates access to data by state and county. 

World Criminal Justice Library Network  Provides links to statistical information and reports on crime and criminal justice from agencies and organizations around the world.

A Miscellany of Potentially Useful Sites

Corporate Crime Reporter – In its 33rd year of publication, this site posts highlights only of its subscription newsletter.

Crimelynx –  According to their website: "CrimeLynx® was developed in 1996 by Denver-based criminal defense attorney Jeralyn Merritt to give legal practitioners, both experienced and new to the Internet, a solid starting point from which to venture out and gather the information they need without wasting valuable time trying to locate relevant links on their own."

CrimeSolutions.gov – According to their website: "...the CrimeSolutions.gov website, present[s] programs and practices that have undergone rigorous evaluations and meta-analyses. The site assesses the strength of the evidence about whether these programs achieve criminal justice, juvenile justice, and crime victim services outcomes in order to inform practitioners and policy makers about what works, what doesn't, and what's promising. 

Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC)The DPIC includes pro and con viewpoints of the death penalty, a history of capital punishment, and information concerning various methods of execution are carried out. Maps and statistics show executions and death row inmates by state, ethnicity, gender, and age. Statistics and tables illustrate executions by year, provide lists of individuals executed (1976-2000), and present full-text reports on related topics.

Famous Trials – Created and maintained by Professor Douglas O. Linder, B.A., J.D., who teaches at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, this site contains "the Web’s largest and most visited collection of original essays, trial transcripts and exhibits, maps, images, and other materials relating to the greatest trials in world history."

FBI Records: The Vault – This site features approximately 6700 scanned FBI documents from their FOIA Library, some previously released, but offering new previously unreleased files also.

The Innocence Project – From their website: "The Innocence Project, founded in 1992 by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck at Cardozo School of Law, exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice."

Legal Information Institute (LII) – Since 1992, Cornell University Law School has provided open access to law by publishing various federal and state legal collections, and by creating WEX, a free legal dictionary and encyclopedia.

Office for Victims of CrimeThe Office for Victims of Crime is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, that provides resources to help those who have been victims of crime.

Prison Policy Initiative – This site describes itself as "go-to source for timely, actionable data about our criminal justice system. We work to grow our movement by bringing in new supporters and making existing allies more effective. Our insightful data analyses and powerful graphics are designed to reshape tomorrow's debates around mass incarceration and over-criminalization."

The Proceedings of the OLD BAILEY – Hosted by The Digital Humanities Institute, this site is a valuable resource for historical research that documents the proceedings from 1674 - 1913 of London's Central Criminal Court.

Vera Institute of Justice - From their website, the Vera Institute of Justice seeks "To drive change.To urgently build and improve justice systems that ensure fairness, promote safety, and strengthen communities."

World Criminal Justice Library Electronic Network – From Rutgers University, the WCJLN describes their mission as "sharing services and criminal justice information on a global scale."

 

Subject Guide

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