Recent research suggests that the onset of the social and economic harms caused by pretrial detention is earlier than previously believed, according to a new analysis by Brian Nam-Sorenstein from the Prison Policy Initiative.
Pre-trial detention is often seen as a necessary sacrifice that protects public safety (and cash bonds) over personal liberty and the ability to keep jobs and care for families. However, research shows that, when compared to releasing people pretrial, jail worsens these outcomes starting on Day One and makes the system more unjust for those detained before trial, Prison Policy found.
But the outcomes are not primarily about poor conditions. “Horrendous jail conditions are only partially to blame; on a more basic level, pretrial detention’s disruptive and stigmatizing effects help explain why it fails to live up to its promises, and no amount of newer, nicer jails can change that,” Nam-Sorenstein writes, as he asks key questions: What are the risks of detention, how quickly do they materialize, and what might the system look like if they mattered in bail determinations?
To answer these questions, Prison Policy examined recent studies that measure pretrial detention’s impact on people, particularly within the first 72 hours in jail. From that analysis, the research seemed clear: “we find that there is no “safe” way to jail a person, nor is there an amount of time a person can be detained without escalating short- and long-term risks to themselves and their communities.”
Just a day or two in pretrial detention makes communities less safe, the Prison Policy analysis concludes. In a study of 1.5 million people booked into a Kentucky jail, researchers found that each day a person spent in pretrial detention was strongly associated with an escalating risk of a new arrest when that person was later released before the end of their trial. After one day in jail, the risk of rearrest was 24%; after the third day, it jumped to 45%, eventually reaching nearly 60% by the 12th day.
Contrary to fears that releasing people pretrial will lead to more crime, communities that have reformed their pretrial processes have repeatedly reported successful outcomes, the analysis finds.
Each day a person spends in pretrial detention was strongly associated with a consistently higher likelihood of a new arrest pending trial compared to those who are not detained.
The effects of pretrial detention also linger for years. “Even those with strong work histories are no match for the destructive power of pretrial detention,” the analysis concluded, citing a study showing that people who lost their jobs or whose vehicles were seized when they were detained struggled to maintain stable employment, even years later.
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