Pretrial Justice Institute

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NCJA National Criminal Justice Association
2009 National Forum on Criminal Justice Public
Safety
August 9-11, 2009 Bellevue, Washington
Alternative to Incarceration Cost Effective
Public Policy
Moderator Tim Murray, Executive Director,
Pretrial Justice Institute Panelists Ray
Billotte, Court Administrator, Pittsburgh,
(Allegheny County), PA Gary Darling, Criminal
Justice Coordinator, Larimer County, CO

• Pretrial Justice Institute

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Pretrial Justice Institute
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• Who we are
• Started in 1977 as the nations only non-profit
  agency dedicated to improving pretrial decision
  making.
• We help local justice systems establish fair and
  effective pretrial practices that eliminate
  inappropriate detention, optimize diversion from
  prosecution, and maintain community safety.
• We provide information, technical assistance and
  research results to criminal justice officials
  and community leaders at the federal, state and
  local levels.

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Pretrial Justice Institute
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• Why does pretrial release decision making matter?
• BJS reports indicate 62 of all those in jail are
  in a pretrial status.

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Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prison and Jail
Inmates at Midyear 2005 (Washington, D.C. US
Department of Justice, US Government Printing
Office, 2006) pp. 1 8
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Pretrial Justice Institute

• Trend in pretrial release decision making
• Increasing reliance by courts on financial bail.
• (As measured by the State Court Processing
  Statistics Program of the Bureau of Justice
  Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice.)

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Relationship between setting money bail and
pretrial release rates
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If this trend continues
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So what are we gaining?
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Bottom line

• Increasing the use of money bail from 52 to 69
  of felony cases resulted in...
• A 4 point increase in court appearance rates
• A 7 point decrease in arrest-free rates
• A 7 point increase in pretrial detention
  rates

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Jail populations on the rise
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If this trend continues
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Pretrial vs. sentenced populations
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If this trend continues
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Pretrial Justice Institute www.pretrial.org pji_at_pr
etrial.org [phone]

• Pretrial Justice Institute