Research Capsule: State of the Science of Pretrial Assessment

Article: State of the Science of Pretrial Assessment (pdf) March, 2011

Author / Publication: Cynthia A. Mamalian, PhD – Bureau of Justice Assistance

Summary: “The most important decision that is made with respect to a newly arrested defendant is whether to release that defendant into the community while awaiting trial; getting that decision right is critically important for both the defendant and the community at-large.” This report offers a comprehensive overview of recent research into fair and effective practices in pretrial release decision-making. It recognizes the practicalities of pretrial release decisions, and offers templates that have proven their effectiveness in releasing appropriate defendants while they await trial.

The Six Most Common Validated Pretrial Risk Factors

Takeaways 

1. Quality data is critically important for making and evaluating sound pretrial release decisions.
2. Objective risk assessment tools offer better and more consistent outcomes than subjective tools.
3. “Court culture” — judicial attitudes — toward pretrial release significantly alters practices, regardless of assessment tool.

Featured Resource: OpenPensions.org

While we don’t normally write about public finance, we support any efforts to increase government transparency. Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer’s Open Pensions website does just this. Commissioner Gainer is chairwoman of the County’s pension oversight committee.

The site addresses an important but politically fraught question: how do correct impending Cook County pension insolvency?  County employees can see how different pension plans will affect them individually and the County as a whole. It also shares raw data for the more analytically minded visitor or researcher.

OpenPensions.org positions itself to be a one-stop-shop for news, resources, and legislative updates regarding the County’s pension problem. Check it out, and be sure to take the survey so legislators know the public’s thoughts.

Featured Resource: Cost-Benefit Knowledge Bank for Criminal Justice

A project of the esteemed Vera Institute for Justice, the Cost-Benefit Knowledge Bank for Criminal Justice creates and consolidates resources for conducting economic analysis criminal justice initiatives.

Technology advances are making data collection easier and cheaper, enabling evidence-based policy-making. Cost-benefit analysis can answer some important questions like:

• What reentry programs provide the greatest return on investment?
• If we need to cut services, which services can we reduce or eliminate without jeopardizing public safety?
• Which mental health treatments deliver the “biggest bang for the buck”?
• Where should we allocate our limited dollars in policing, jails, or pre-trial detention services?

For beginners, the CBKB offers a “CBA Basics” page, as well as a Toolkit to step through economic analysis of criminal justice policies.

Learn more at: http://cbkb.org/

Research Capsule: A History of Bail & Pretrial Release

Article: A History of Bail and Pretrial Release (pdf)

Author/Publication: Timothy Schnacke, et al / Pretrial Justice Institute

Summary

Bail reform is a work in progress: the origin of pre-trial release pre-dates the Magna Carta (1012 ad)! And it was created to address–what else?–overcrowded jails. That means we’ve been trying to strike the balance between criminal accountability and individual liberty for over a millennium. Conditions for pretrial release may not be excessive and should aim for the least burdensome bail to ensure appearance at preliminary hearing.

Takeaways

1. Change is possible. Bail standards have varied considerably over the centuries–from a standard of virtually no bail to  The status quo need not prevail.
2. The US Constitution does not guarantee a right to pretrial release–only that bail may not be “excessive.”
3. Non-monetary bail is effective. There is no demonstrable benefit to setting low bail rather than release on recognizance or electronic monitoring. Bar associations, civil rights advocates, and academics have urged a default standard of releasing defendants without monetary bail.
4. Commercial bail bonds drive up the average bail amount. Illinois is one of just four states to have outlawed commercial bail bonds.

Learn more at: www.pretrial.org

“Are there better ways to do our business?”

So asks New York State Chief Judge Jonathon Lippman, who has work within New York’s court system for over forty years, 15 of them as a judge. During a recent interview with The Center for Court Innovation, Judge Lippman says the title question is what led New York to begin reforming its court systems 15 years ago. The courts began thinking of ways to administer justice more effectively and more efficiently, including embracing diversion as a means to reduce incarceration.

That is the core of Chicago Appleseed’s mission: to identify better ways for legal systems to do the “business” of justice. Toward this end, we are currently drafting a blueprint for how Cook County can reduce both the tax and human costs of incarceration. We have consulted with numerous criminal justice experts and stakeholders, including The Center for Court Innovation, so that our recommendations are informed and confirmed by experience and evidence-based research.

The Center for Court Innovation is co-hosting a free Innovations in Criminal Justice Summit in Chicago next week. The summit, co-sponsored by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys will:

“. . . highlight 10 innovative criminal justice practices. These innovative practices focus on probationary strategies, community and intelligence-led prosecution programs, policing practices, judicial procedures, reentry, mental health courts, holistic defense (public defender initiative), homicide review commissions and addressing chronic offenders. This summit is open to all criminal justice partners and those interested in learning about innovative practices which are creating a more effective and efficient system of justice.”

Register for the summit here. Chicago Appleseed staff will be in attendance.

Featured Resource: ABA Criminal Justice Section

The ABA’s Criminal Justice Section “State Policy Implementation Project” includes a collection of research and recommendations proposing five reforms:

1. Pre-Trial Release Reform

2. Decriminalization of Minor Offenses

3. Effective Reentry Programs

4. Increased Use of Parole and Probation

5. Community Corrections Programs

Each category contains publicly available tools for advocates who, like Chicago Appleseed, work toward criminal justice reform. The resources include legislative proposals, research reports, recent news, and model programs.

Chicago Appleseed’s Criminal Justice Committee is currently working on several projects that will benefit from the use of these materials. One is our “Diversion Blueprint” — a kind of operating manual for the creation of a Diversion Division within the Cook County Criminal Court. This Division would divert from jail qualified nonviolent offenders who demonstrate drug addiction or mental illness. We endorse diversion because it has proven [pdf] to reduce crime while saving taxpayers money.

This week, the Global Commission on Drug Policy roundly condemned global drug policy of the last four decades, and issued a lengthy report recommending ways to address the world’s drug problem. Among those?

• Stop criminalizing people who use drugs but do not harm others
• Increase health and treatment services to those in need
• End law enforcement emphasis on pursuing the low end of the drug market and instead focusing on violent criminal organizations

Chicago Appleseed’s Diversion Blueprint furthers the first and second recommendations, and is a direct response to the third. The recent Disproportionate Impact Justice Committee Report (DJIS) revealed that current law enforcement strategies–which target densely populated areas–adversely affect nonwhite individuals and communities disproportionate to their rates of illegal drug use. Diversion is one approach to remedying that injustice.

In our research and advocacy, we often draw on resources such as those provided by the ABA, and we are glad to share them with our blog readers and other advocates.