NCJ Number
81934
Date Published
Unknown
Length
0 pages
Annotation
Strategies to affect change in the pretrial release system, including elimination of money bail, must be multifaceted and focus on litigation, on development of alternatives to pretrial detention, and on encouraging judges and others to question their assumptions about release.
Abstract
Case law is effective in defining the parameters of defendants' rights to release. The case of Pugh v. Rainwater, a Federal case under appeal that originated in Florida, would put the burden on the State to establish that no condition short of money bond would be adequate to ensure the defendant's return to court. The judge would be required to consider all nonmonetary forms of release before setting bail and would have to state in writing the reasons for resorting to financial conditions. Furthermore, the pretrial jail population can be reduced by increasing police use of summons and citations and by requiring quick probable cause hearings. All changes should bring release closer to the time of arrest. Finally, sympathetic judges should be sought out who will risk allowing pretrial release without financial conditions. Reluctant judges should be invited to conferences to expose them to new pretrial release concepts. Questions from the audience conclude the discussion. Panel members include a professor of law and counsel in several landmark cases, a court-appointed master in Philadelphia and executive director of the Philadelphia Commission for Effective Criminal Justice, and a judge of the Cook County Circuit Court and chairperson of the Illinois Judicial Conference Study Committee on Bail Proceedings.