2010 Survey of State Court Criminal Appeals

The 2010 Survey of State Court Criminal Appeals (SSCCA) project will endeavor to administer the criminal appeals survey of state appellate courts. Administering the survey will involve finalizing the sampling design and survey development for this project and collecting detail case level information on criminal appellate litigation. The award focuses on criminal appeals disposed in calendar year 2010 and aims to obtain information on certain key case characteristics, including the types of criminal cases appealed to state intermediate appellate courts and courts of last resort, the disposition of criminal appeals, appellate case processing time, and the impact of appellate litigation on trial court outcomes. This project is the first of its kind to collect and examine case specific data at both levels of appellate review intermediate appellate courts and courts of last resort. It will build on prior work BJS has done regarding appellate litigation in the civil arena. Findings from this project will be used throughout the criminal justice community as it seeks to better understand the nature of the appellate stage of criminal case processing. CA/NCF