Poster #116 - The Impact of Humphrey on Pretrial Release and Public Safety

• In Event: Saturday Poster Luncheon

Abstract

In 2021, the Supreme Court of California upheld a First District Court of Appeals 2018 decision in Humphrey that a court must consider a person’s ability to pay and non-monetary alternatives when setting conditions of release. Absent a substantial threat to community safety, all courts in California must now consider a person’s ability to pay when setting bail rather than relying solely on the bail schedule. Judges are also now required to consider non-monetary release alternatives, such as case management or electronic monitoring. Understanding how Humphrey affects pretrial outcomes and community safety is critical for California. In this study, we document county responses to Humphrey and examine pretrial outcomes before and after county implementation. Then, leveraging county variation in pretrial practice, we compare outcomes for individuals whose pretrial experience differs due to county changes in policy or practice to understand the impact of Humphrey.

Authors

• Emmanuel Edward Prunty, University of California, Berkeley
  Presenting Author

• Alissa Julia Skog, University of California, Berkeley
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Johanna Lacoe, University of California, Berkeley
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Mia Bird, University of California, Berkeley
  Non-Presenting Co-Author