Pretrial Quarterly Newsletter

January 2017

The Pretrial Quarterly is an NCSL electronic newsletter for state legislators, legislative staff, and others interested in pretrial release policy. This newsletter provides quarterly updates on state pretrial action and legislation and new NCSL resources. It also links to latest research and highlights pretrial policy in the news.

From the states

• Take a look back at 2016! Enactments have been added to NCSL’s Pretrial Release Legislation Database.
• Several California lawmakers have introduced a new bill aimed at safely reducing the number of people held in pretrial detention. It would address racial and economic disparities in the pretrial system and ensure that people are not held in pretrial detention because of their inability to afford bail. Watch the bill announcement.
• Texas Senator Konni Burton filed a bill that would prohibit law enforcement officers from arresting a defendant accused of an offense punishable by a fine only.

the cache

• Urban Institute: Road Map to Pretrial Reforms – Profile Analysis of New Hampshire’s Pretrial Defendant Population.
• Pretrial Justice Institute Webinar: Pretrial Risk Assessment: Perpetuating or Disrupting Racial Bias – Virginia Pretrial Risk Assessment Instrument-Revised. See also Pretrial Justice: How Much Does It Cost?
• ACLU of Nebraska: Unequal Justice: Bail and Modern Day Debtors’ Prisons in Nebraska.
• New Jersey Office of the Public Defender, ACLU New Jersey and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers: The New Jersey Pretrial Justice Manual.
• Bureau of Justice Statistics: Jail Inmates in 2015 (Released Dec. 2016).
• Vera Institute of Justice: Past Due – Examining the Costs of Consequences of Charging for Justice in New Orleans. (Here is the latest from New Orleans).

in the news

• Former Attorney General Eric Holder weighs in on proposed changes to the bail system before Maryland’s highest court. Learn more about what has been happening in Maryland leading up to the hearing on proposed changes.
• Conservative principles that can help end unnecessary pretrial jail time from Mark Levin, policy director from Right on Crime and Director of the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
• California Assemblymember Rob Bonta unveils new bail reform legislation saying that “California’s bail system punishes poor people simply for being poor.”
• A multi-part series from The New Orleans Times-Picayune on how families are affected when parents, accused of nonviolent offenses, are held for extended periods of time in pretrial confinement.
• Changes approved by New Jersey voters in 2014 take effect after an unsuccessful attempt to delay implementation of the new pretrial release provisions. Hear from local officials about the implementation here.
• New York Governor Cuomo proposes to reform bail and pretrial detention in his state of the state address.
• Learn about bail schedules in Dallas County, Texas, and one woman’s $150,000 bail for a $105 shoplifting offense. Related: Texas Judicial Council Report and Recommendations on Pretrial Decision-Making Practices.
• “No Money, No Mercy,” a New York Times series on the role of money in pretrial diversion. 

Want to learn more about the latest in the pretrial world? Check out The Worldwide Pretrial Innovators Convention on March 7-9, 2017, in National Harbor, Washington, D.C. Register for a sneak peek on Thursday here!

This newsletter is prepared under a partnership project of NCSL’s Criminal Justice Program and the Public Welfare Foundation. Links to external websites and reports are for information purposes only and do not indicate NCSL’s endorsement of the content.