NCJ Number
144497
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 57 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1993) Pages: 28-35
Date Published
1993
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Problems with the fairness and effectiveness of pretrial release determinations are attributed to the complete freedom of discretion given to judges and to the difficulty in predicting how a defendant will behave. The need for court-based guidelines is discussed.
Abstract
Despite decades of bail reform, questions about the fairness and effectiveness of pretrial release decisions exist. Bail reform focused mainly on the development of pretrial services agencies but failed to take into consideration the need to change judicial attitudes and habits. The problems that continue to exist are blamed on a system that gives judges unguided discretion to make pretrial release decisions and on the difficulties with predicting the defendant's behavior. These factors are linked to the continued reliance on cash bail as the currency for release. The author argues that change needs to come from the judiciary itself through the development of policy to structure the exercise of discretion. Guidelines would combine an explicit statement of the goals of the decision to release or not, clear definition of the kinds of information that can be considered and how it should be weighed, and a rational scheme for designating release conditions for specific categories of defendants. Initial versions of pretrial guidelines that have been adopted in some jurisdictions include risk classifications to improve predictions about how a defendant will behave. The role of the pretrial services agencies should not be to make recommendations to the judge about who should be release or detained but to apply the court-based guidelines in collecting, summarizing and presenting reliable information about criminal defendants. They would be responsible for indicating when particular supervisory or other conditions of release would be appropriate based on a court-approved list of conditions.