From the States

• NCSL staff have been working hard to keep state lawmakers up to date with resources on the latest in the fight to manage COVID-19. Upcoming webinars, legislative information, and resources and policy responses can all be found on our centralized page.
  • Responses specific to criminal justice and resources from the field are featured on NCSL’s webpage.
• Connecticut legislation from 2018 required the state court administrator to study and report on the feasibility of establishing an opioid intervention court. The report advised against establishing an opioid intervention court for a number of reasons. Learn more.

The Cache

• National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies:
  • Standards in Pretrial Release: Revised 2020
  • Diversion 101 Resources (2020)
• Policy Research, Inc.:
  • Rethinking Jails and Behavioral Health (January 2020)
  • Responding to Individuals in Behavioral Health Crisis Via Co-Responder Models (January 2020)
• U.S. Department of Justice: Drug Courts (January 2020)
• CLOUD: Curated Library about Opioid Use for Decision-makers (2020)
• National Center for State Courts Mental Health Facts in Brief:
  • Trauma and its Implications for Justice Systems (March 2020)
  • Co-occurring Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders (CODs) (March 2020)

In the News

• Pretrial risk assessment tools have been making headlines.
  • The Pretrial Justice Institute recently released an updated position on the use of the tools, which is a significant departure from its prior position. Several grups issued responses, including the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies, The JFA Institute and Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research, which is funded by Arnold Ventures and manages the Public Safety Assessment.
  • The debate over risk assessment tools is not new. See this previous statement from civil rights advocates and this joint statement from defense organizations.
  •  Resurces on risk assessments can be found from The Pretrial Justice Center for Courts and The National Institute of Corrections. Check out a recent resource on civil rights and risk assessment instruments and a primer for policymakers.
• A group of Maine lawmakers is looking to restore Maine’s mental health crisis response system to divert people from jails.
• Arnold Ventures’ Executive Vice President of Criminal Justice Jeremy Travis was recently interviewed by WNYC and compared the recent New York pretrial reforms with similar changes made by New Jersey years ago. He highlighted New Jersey’s robust implementation plan and noted that those changes also faced some measure of opposition as well. Read about an argument to give the New York law time to work from The New York Times.
• The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted the pressure felt by the bail bond industry, noting the recent exit of private-equity firm Endeavour Capital from the business. The article also states that the number of bail bonds written fell about 10% to just over $14 billion in 2018.
• Advocates in Illinois delivered 177 quart-sized jars of 250 gummy bears to state lawmakers last month. The bears were representative of a 1,000th of the number of people who are detained pretrial each year in the state.
• Clark County, Nevada launched a program a year ago to speed up appearance in court for lower-risk defendants. The county recently reported new numbers highlighting the success of the changes.
• To learn how bail jumping became Wisconsin’s most charged offense, take a closer look at practices statewide.
• The Pennington County, South Dakota Sheriff’s Office released its 2019 annual report recently. Highlights include recent reforms and a jail population that has stopped increasing, for now.
• Law enforcement groups in Illinois hosted a news conference to say they will oppose any efforts to eliminate cash bail in the state and announced the formation of a new organization, the Coalition for Public Safety.