Pretrial release practices in the United States, 1976-1978

Description

This is Phase II of a larger project to evaluate pre-trial release practices. This study focuses on four major topics: Release--rates and types of releases, defendant or case characteristics and their impact on the release decision, Court Appearance --extent to which released defendants appear in court, factors associated with defendants' failure to appear in court, Pre-trial Criminality --the number of re-arrests during the pre-trial period and the factors predicting re-arrest, charges and rates of conviction for crimes committed during the pretrial period, Impact of Pre-trial Release Programs --effect of programs on release decisions and on behavior of defendants. The study is limited to adult defendants processed through state and local trial courts, and to pre-trial release rather than pre-trial intervention or diversion programs. Part One is an analysis of release practices and outcomes in eight jurisdictions (Baltimore City and Baltimore County, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Dade County, Florida, Jefferson County, Kentucky, Pima County, Arizona, Santa Cruz County, California, and Santa Clara County, California). The pre-trial release "delivery systems," that is, the major steps and individuals and organizations in the pre-trial release process, were analyed in each jurisdiction.