Mandatory Arrest Laws for Domestic Abuse: HELPING VICTIMS OR HURTING THEM?
14th Jerry Lee Capitol Hill Symposium on Evidence-Based Crime Policy
Monday May 19, 2014 1:00PM - 5:00PM
Tuesday May 20, 2014 9:00AM - 1:00PM
National Guard Association of the United States in Walsh-Reckord Hall of States
One Massachusetts Ave, NW Washington, DC
Twenty-three years after the NIJ-funded Milwaukee domestic violence arrest experiment, the effect of mandatory arrest on victims of domestic violence was a significant increase in death from natural causes. This followed the increases in repeat violence among arrested abusers who were unemployed, an effect that also lasted 23 years.The effect on offenders was also harmful, with those arrested suffering three times as much murder as those who were warned. These findings raise key questions for the Jerry Lee Symposium:
What do these findings mean for domestic abuse victims?
- Is mandatory arrest an unconstitutional violation of victims’ civil rights?
- What alternatives to mandatory arrest should be tested?
- What statutory changes are needed in order to conduct new experiments?
- How can evidence-based policy for protecting victims be developed?
- What is the federal role on these issues?
- What should state legislatures do about this new information?
Speakers Include:
- Professor Linda Mills, New York University
- Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn
- Professor Jacquelyn Campbell, Johns Hopkins University
- Police Foundation President Jim Bueermann
- Professor Laurie Robinson, George Mason University
- Professor Lawrence Sherman, Universities of Cambridge and Maryland
- Professor Cynthia Lum, George Mason University
Please reserve your place, at no cost, with Whytnee Foriestwforiest [at] umd.edu ( )
Download the free Journal of Experimental Criminology article by Sherman & Harris on “Increased Death Rates of Domestic Violence Victims From Arresting Versus Warning Suspects in the Milwaukee Domestic Violence Experiment” at: http://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/news/documents/MilDVE%20Victim%20Mortality%20JEC%20FINAL%20ALL.pdf
