Reducing PreTrial Detention: Evidence from Randomized Intervention in El Salvador

• In Event: Justice, Policing, & Security: Quasi & Experimental Evidence from Latin America

Abstract

This study analyzes the impact of a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) on pre-trial innovation implemented in El Salvador. This Central American country suffers from an epidemic of gang-related violence that has led the state to react with highly punitive policies in the criminal justice system. The combination of these harsh policies and a considerable judicial lag generates the conditions of a severely overcrowded judicial system in which those accused of committing a crime often spend years in prison without a sentence, simply waiting for their hearing. In collaboration with the Salvadorian Attorney General Office (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR) of El Salvador, we implemented an innovative training program for 114 public defenders paired with improved defense protocols and institutional coordination mechanisms in four Salvadorian municipalities. These efforts aimed at increasing the number of Substitutive Measures, a type of judicial decision that allows the accused to follow their trial in liberty without being imprisoned through the duration of the judicial process (which could take several years). The results of this RCT provide strong evidence that the intervention increased by 10.7% the probability of obtaining Substitutive Measures in favor of the accused, which represents a 70.04% increase in the success rate of PGR public defenders. This intervention shows an innovative approach to effectively reduce detentions in countries that suffer an endemic scarcity of resources. By reducing imprisonment, this project also contributed to diminishing the inflow of people that affect prison overcrowding.

Authors

• Javier Osorio, University of Arizona

• Michael Lee Weintraub, Universidad de los Andes

• Reynaldo T. Rojo Mendoza, San Diego State University