• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
Access to Justice Lab logo

The Access to Justice Lab

at Harvard Law School

  • About
  • Projects
  • Publications
  • Resources
  • People
    • A2J Lab Staff
    • Advisory Board
    • Collaborators
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Show Search
Hide Search

Ready, Set, Launch

April 11, 2017 by Sophie Laing

Research Director Chris Griffin blogs from Wisconsin:

The day has finally arrived!

At this afternoon’s initial appearance court in Dane County, WI, the A2J Lab begins its evaluation of the Public Safety Assessment (“PSA”). Criminal process in this jurisdiction now includes additional, scientifically based information in a randomly selected subset of cases to inform pre-disposition release decisions. The judicial official–known here as a Commissioner–receives risk scores and a recommendation for release through the PSA and its static criminal history inputs to consider in reaching those decisions. Check out this video starring Lab affiliate Heidi Liu and yours truly to learn more about the science behind this RCT:

Over the coming week, I will post more personal thoughts about our PSA evaluation and some reflections from Dane County officials and employees. In the meantime, I will be observing initial appearances, meeting with commissioners and judges, and discussing the next RCT milestones with other field partners. The Lab, the Arnold Foundation, Luminosity, and the County have worked for almost two years to make this study a reality. Stay tuned for more!

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Blog, Pre-trial Risk Assessments

Using empirical research to make the U.S. justice system work better for everyone.

The Access to Justice Lab

Copyright © 2023 · Monochrome Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in