Balancing Public Safety & Justice: Pretrial Detention and risk of Custodial Sentencing among Defendants ages 16 to 24

• In Event: Juvenile Detention: Public Safety, Alternatives, and Reoffending

Abstract

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about 11.4 million admissions occurred in county and city jails in 2014. Many of these episodes involve short-term pretrial detention, which has limited incapacitation effects and criminogenic effects for low-risk defendants. Although judges consider the New York City Criminal Justice Agency (CJA) release recommendation in making release/bail decisions, other factors may also influence pretrial detention. We use 2014 data from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and New York State Unified Court System to examine three research questions focused on defendants aged 16 to 24: what factors influence pretrial detention; how do key categories (sex, race/ethnicity, prior criminal history, CJA recommendation and release status) influence case processing outcomes; and how does pretrial detention, disposition, and sentence type (e.g., "walk" sentence, probation, custody) predict re-arrest risk. Policy recommendations focus on balancing public safety needs with the Risk-Need-Responsivity Model (RNR) to reduce recidivism risk among young adult population.

Authors

• Michael Rempel, Center for Court Innovation

• Ashmini Kerodal, Center for Court Innovation

• Joseph Spadafore, Center for Court Innovation