COURTING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS: A TALE OF TWO CITIES*

Abstract

Buzawa and Buzawa comment on the article by Davis et al that explores the impact of different policies in prosecutors' offices in two boroughs of New York City: Brooklyn and the Bronx. They note that Davis et al's study provides a unique and valuable opportunity to examine how differences in prosecution models may significantly impact outcomes. Davis et al wanted to examine whether recidivism would be reduced by the greater expenditure of resources implicit in the Brooklyn model. Here, Buzawa and Buzawa agree that this setting is ideal for the comparison of two models, and hence, it is a valuable opportunity for providing research with potential policy implications. They have long observed that although a likelihood of prosecution may exist in states with "no-drop" policies, considerable variation exists in statutory frameworks and it has been difficult to determine empirically whether stated policies versus statutes predict outcomes better.