Pretrial Justice National Perspective Cherise Fanno Burdeen Executive Director Pretrial Justice Institute
Pretrial Injustice
Not All Bad News
So, what is the current state of pretrial in America?
Arrest and Booking Rates Per 100,000 Subramanian, Ram et al. (2015) Incarceration’s Front Door: The Misuse of Jails in America. New York, NY: The Vera Institute of Justice.
Crime and Jail Rates per 100,000 Subramanian, Ram et al. (2015) Incarceration’s Front Door: The Misuse of Jails in America. New York, NY: The Vera Institute of Justice.
Average Money Bail For Felony Defendants After adjusting for inflation, this represents a 43% increase over 17 years
Rates of Detention by Race Justice Policy Institute (2012) Bail Fail: Why the US Should End the Practice of Using Money for Bail. Washington, DC: Justice Policy Institute.
Why are jail populations high? • Arrests remain high • 12 million, where about 10 million are misdemeanors • Bookings remain high • Less cite and release, mostly custodial • What happens after you drop them off? • Bond schedule
At the Table
Game Changers Equaljusticeunderlaw.org
Legal Challenge to Money Bond Criminal defendants, presumed innocent, must not be confined in jail merely because they are poor. Justice that is blind to poverty and indiscriminately forces defendants to pay for their physical liberty is no justice at all.” —Jones v. Clanton (2015)
Statement from the Justice Department “It is the position of the United States that, as courts have long recognized, any bail or bond scheme that mandates payment of pre-fixed amounts for different offenses in order to gain pre-trial release, without any regard for indigence, not only violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, but also constitutes bad public policy.” —Statement of Interest, Varden v. City of Clanton, 2015
Public Opinion 2015 Effec%veness at Figh%ng Crime and Keeping Us Safe Police Risk Based Preven%ve Jails Deten%on* 84% 68% 65% Effec)ve Effec)ve Effec)ve (15% Not) (30% Not) (19% Not) Cash Bail The Criminal Pretrial Risk Jus%ce System Assessment 51% 52% Effec)ve 70% Effec)ve (35% Not) Effec)ve (17% Not) (28% Not) 31% Don’t know
Focus on Violent Criminals Focus on Arres%ng Violent Criminals Instead of Low-Level Suspects Democrats All Voters Independents Republicans 85 80 79 75 +63 +74 +60 +55 68 62 60 58 20 18 16 11 8 5 11 10 Agree Disagree Agree Disagree Agree Disagree Agree Disagree
Risk Assessment vs. Cash Bail Determining Factor for Keeping Someone In Jail Before Trial: Risk Assessment vs. Cash Bail 83 76 75 75 74 74 74 +62 +62 +65 +62 +63 +59 +77 61 66 58 56 56 55 54 16 13 13 12 12 8 6 8 11 9 9 6 9 5 Risk Cash Risk Cash Risk Cash Risk Cash Risk Cash Risk Cash Risk Cash Likely African Voters Americans Democrats Independents Republicans Whites Latinos
Public Education Matters Ini%al Ballot: Eliminate Cash Bail and Replace with Risk Assessment With Without Information Information Risk assessment would take into account such factors as the nature of the offense in question and the suspect’s criminal history. Under this system, those deemed high-risk would be held in jail until trial and those who are low-risk would be released and in some cases supervised prior to trial. 58 I n f o r m a t i o n 38 B o o 36 s t s S u p p o r t 26 b y 2 2 22 P o i 20 n t s 42 25 19 14 Support Oppose Undecided Support Oppose Undecided
Who Impacts Voter Opinion? Impact of Public Figures and Ins%tu%ons No AAen7on AAen7on Net 7 15 44 84 Judges +68 4 11 41 88 +76 Law enforcement officials 20 8 37 76 +56 Crime vic7ms' groups 14 5 33 82 +68 The Sheriffs' Associa7on 21 12 33 76 +54 Re7red judges 10 21 31 76 +55 AAorneys general 24 10 29 72 +49 Public defenders
How this translates into reform?
State and local initiatives • Kentucky • New Jersey • Colorado • California • Etc.
Federal initiatives • “End Money Bail Act of 2016” – uses federal program funding as lever for reform • Interest in using Insurance oversight as a mechanism for reform.
Smart Pretrial Initiative • Three-year project ending in the fall of 2017 • 3 sites are demonstrating that changes are possible • Yakima County, WA • City and County of Denver • Delaware • Have completed a thorough pretrial system analysis • Are currently implementing new practices consistent with both the research and the law
Case Study: New Jersey • 2013 - Independent study of New Jersey county jails • August 2014 - Governor Chris Christie signed comprehensive bail reform legislation • November 2014 - New Jersey voters passed ballot initiative enacting reform • January 2017 - legislation will take effect
What is 3DaysCount TM ? A nationwide initiative to support states to Reduce unnecessary arrests that destabilize families and communities, Replace discriminatory cash bail with practical, risk-based decision-making, and Enable transparent detention for the small number of defendants who pose a genuine threat to public safety.
Campaign Strategies
Campaign Strategies Improve State Implement Statewide Statutes & Evidence-Based Tools Court Rules Change State Litigate Constitutions
On-Demand Learning Community • Community • Online content • Self-paced • Live webcasts • Town halls • Office hours
www.pretrial.org cherise@pretrial.org @pretrial facebook.com/pretrial
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