NCJ Number
92281
Date Published
1983
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses the content and implications of the congressional bail reform proposal found in Chapter 35 of S. 1630, The Criminal Code Reform Act of 1981, which substantially revises the Bail Reform Act of 1966.
Abstract
Chapter 35 of S. 1630 expressly addresses such issues as consideration of defendant dangerousness in setting nonfinancial conditions of release, the arbitrary imposition of financial conditions wich often cannot be satisfied by a defendant, and the need to expand the list of statutory release conditions. Additionally, the proposed bill expressly permits the pretrial detention of defendants in those cases where no conditions of release will ensure the appearance at trial or the safety of the community or other persons. Pretrial detention based on considerations of defendant dangerousness is, therefore, given statutory sanction. Simultaneously, the code provisions dramatically alter the existing use of money bail. The current debate over pretrial detention focuses primarily on three issues: (1) whether pretrial detention is constitutionally permissible, (2) whether a preventive detention statute that is appropriately narrow in scope and that provides necessarily stringent safeguards to protect the rights of defendants will be sufficiently workable, and (3) whether the premise of a pretrial detention statute -- that judges can predict with an acceptable degree of accuracy which defendants are likely to commit crimes if released -- is reasonable. The first two issues are examined in an analysis of the pretrial detention provisions of the District of Columbia Code. A copy of the congressional bill is provided.