Pretrial Detention
Contents
Pretrial Detention
Pretrial detention is when someone who’s been arrested has to stay in jail until their trial. It’s basically locking people up before they’ve been convicted of a crime. This happens a lot in America and it’s a pretty controversial issue.
Why Does Pretrial Detention Happen?
There’s a few main reasons why pretrial detention happens:
- Risk of not showing up for court. Judges worry the person won’t come back for their trial if they let them out, so they make them stay in jail. This is more likely if the crime is serious or the person doesn’t have a permanent address.
- Danger to the community. Judges keep people in if they think letting them out before trial would be dangerous. This happens more with violent crimes or if the person has a record of violence.
- Can’t afford bail. Most people can avoid pretrial detention if they pay bail, but lots of folks can’t afford to pay the bail amount. So they get stuck in jail even for small crimes.
The Main Arguments For and Against It
People have strong opinions on both sides of this issue.
Arguments for pretrial detention:
- Keeps dangerous people off the streets
- Makes sure people show up for trial
- Upholds public safety
Arguments against it:
- Unfair to low-income people
- Jails people who are still innocent
- Harms families and jobs
- Costs taxpayers money
So it’s basically a debate over public safety vs. civil liberties. Both sides have good points honestly.
Who Gets Detained and Why it Matters
The biggest problem is how uneven it is. Poor folks and minorities are wayyyy more likely to get locked up before trial. Like up to 90% of people in jail haven’t been convicted yet – they just can’t afford bail.
This matters because even a few days in jail can mess up someone’s life. They might:
- Lose their job
- Lose custody of their kids
- Lose their housing
- Suffer mental health issues
And if they’re innocent, it’s super unfair. The system kinda assumes “guilty until proven innocent” for poor people.
How Bail and Bond Works
Most people can avoid pretrial detention if they pay bail. Here’s how it works:
The judge sets a bail amount. To get out, you either:
- Pay the full bail amount. When you show up for trial, you get the money back.
- Pay a bondsman. You pay ~10% of the bail to a bondsman. He pays the full bail to the court. He doesn’t get that money back – his fee is nonrefundable.
So if bail is $1,000, you could pay $1,000 and get it back later. Or pay ~$100 to a bondsman who pays the $1,000 for you.
Obviously this favors people who can afford it. People with low incomes often end up stuck in jail awaiting trial.
Possible Solutions
There’s a few reforms that could help:
- Lower or eliminate cash bail. This would prevent people being jailed just for being poor. Some places are trying no-cash bail systems.
- Release more people without bail. Judges could release more folks on just a promise to return. This would reserve detention for truly dangerous people.
- More pretrial services. Things like counseling, drug testing, electronic monitoring could allow more people to be released safely.
- Speedy trials. If trials happened faster, fewer people would languish in pretrial detention for long periods.
The Bottom Line
Lots of smart people disagree on where to draw the line here. Public safety is important, but detaining someone before they’ve been convicted goes against the idea of “innocent until proven guilty”.
There’s also tons of evidence that cash bail and pretrial detention disproportionately harm minorities and the poor. Reformers say the system needs a major overhaul to make it more fair. But opponents argue we can’t sacrifice public safety in the process.
It’s a tricky issue with good points on both sides. But there seems to be growing agreement that the current system is broken and needs more justice and common sense.