From Prison Policy Initiative:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Any time a person is arrested and accused of committing a crime, a
decision has to be made. Will this person be quickly released back into
the community, or will this person be detained in jail to await the next
stage of case processing?
This decision is not a strictly “either-or” proposition. Some people facing charges are incarcerated during this pretrial stage for months or even years, while other spend only a few hours or days in jail, and some spend no time behind bars at all.
This pretrial detention decision carries enormous consequences for the individual charged, and has serious downstream effects throughout the entire justice system. Accordingly, the decision whether to subject someone to incarceration awaiting
further court processing is a weighty one and is often informed by a complex set of factors. Concerns about community safety, the constitutional rights of justice-involved persons, and the need for individuals to appear in court all play an
important role. Continue reading >>>
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