Punishment Enough?: The Pretrial Process as Punishment and Ultimate Case Dismissals

• In Event: Charge and Offense Type Differences in Pretrial Decisions and Outcomes

Abstract

Despite remaining a prevalent case disposition type, dismissals remain largely understudied. Existing literature on case processing in lower-level courts, namely Feeley’s (1979) process-as-punishment perspective, holds that informal sanctions often outweigh formal legal punishment and, in the context of dismissals, may imply that the procedural burden has been ‘punishment enough.’ Using a sample of criminal cases (n = 800) entering the Philadelphia court system, the current study examines the impact of pretrial punishment (cash bail amount, detention throughout disposition, and non-defense initiated motions for continuance filed) on case dismissals for both felony and misdemeanor cases. Results indicate that, across the full sample, the number of continuances significantly increases the likelihood of dismissal. When comparing impact across case grading, continuances remain a significant predictor in both felony and misdemeanor subsamples and, in misdemeanor cases only, cash bail amount also significantly increases the odds of dismissal. These findings further the limited scholarship on case dismissals, and additionally offer important context as to how the process-as-punishment framework fits into the landscape of the prevalent disposition type.

Authors

• Sarah D. Jones, Temple University

• E. Rely Vîlcică, Temple University