Roundtable: Developing a Pretrial Research Network within the Criminology Community

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

Pretrial and bail reform efforts are surging nationwide. States are changing their laws and counties are altering their practices in response to a groundswell of successful class-action litigation and grassroots pressure challenging the basic fairness, effectiveness, and constitutionality of existing pretrial processes and money bail procedures. Despite the salience of this issue and the critical effect pretrial decisions have setting the stage for later system outcomes and further life chances, relative to other criminal justice topical areas (e.g., policing, sentencing, corrections), surprisingly little research exists on bail, jails, and the broader pretrial stage. Furthermore, no pretrial research network or division exists within the American Society of Criminology or larger social sciences field. This roundtable aims to remedy this by developing a research network for academics and practitioners to share research best practices, developments, and findings related to pretrial processes and practices, including but not limited to topics such as bail, jails, pretrial services, risk assessment, debtors’ prisons, fines and fees, and the criminalization of poverty. An additional goal of this pretrial research network will include discussions about how academics and researchers can help inform ongoing policy discussions with evidence-based research.

Sub Unit

• Area XII. Roundtables

Chair

• Catherine S. Kimbrell, George Mason University

Discussants

• Stephen Demuth, Bowling Green State University

• Jennifer Copp, Florida State University

• Christine Scott-Hayward, California State University, Long Beach