NCJ Number
100110
Date Published
1985
Length
274 pages
Annotation
This book describes a unique collaboration between researchers and Philadelphia's Municipal Court to develop and implement bail guidelines and then assess their effectiveness by having half the judges use the new guidelines and half decide bail in the traditional way.
Abstract
An overview of bail reform emphasizes that most approaches have focused on pretrial detention and release issues, rather than the decisionmakers. A detailed account of the Philadelphia Municipal Court Research Project covers the site's characteristics and the study's two components: an analysis of judges' bail decisions to discern any patterns and the consequences of these decisions in terms of failure to appear and rearrest rates; and constructing bail guidelines with the judges' participation. Of the three models produced by project staff, the one selected by judges was based on factors customarily relied upon in bail decisionmaking, but enhanced by empirically based predictors of defendant failure. The book describes the evaluation design which randomly chooses eight guideline judges and eight controls, collecting data on their decisions for 14 months. The results demonstrate the guidelines' effectiveness in producing more fair and equitable bail decisions. Tables, charts, and materials relating to the study's methodology, over 100 references, and an index are included.