Call for randomised criminal-justice trials / Medical News Today, 17 Oct 2004

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/?newsid=15080
"A scientific approach to test the validity of criminal-justice interventions before they become implemented is proposed by the author of a Viewpoint in this week's issue of THE LANCET (p 1457). The article provides details of how court-based randomisation could be put into practice.

Sheila Bird (UK Medical Research Council/University of Strathclyde, Scotland) focuses on the lack of true scientific evidence that has been used as a basis for implementing UK criminal justice policy on drug-dependent offenders.

She outlines the ideal scientific approach for the criminal justice system: �Formal experiments, including the randomisation of sufficient numbers of offenders, are needed to inform judicial approval or �licensing� of new criminal-justice disposals before they are implemented nationally. "