Funding Agency: Vera Institute of Justice

Principal Investigator: Todd Clear

Abstract: This study will aim to build on the existing body of research by describing the practical implementation of the DLR (Drug Law Reform, passed by the NYC legislature in 2009) and evaluating the reforms’ impact on the two main areas of concern: the financial and public safety implications of changing sentencing polices for drug offences. In support of the VERA Institute of Justice grant Rutgers has agreed to assist Vera in the selection of a pre-DLR sample group and post-DLR sample group from the administrative dataset collected by Vera, conduct the propensity score matching to ensure individuals in both pre-and post-DLR samples have comparable baseline characteristics, and draft a chapter in the final report to the National Institute of Justice.