By: Zack Dollins
New York City, NY – In a brief released by the Data Collaborative for Justice, they highlight a recently released report, compiled by a number of researchers, activists, and experts, that details how judges can reduce pretrial detentions in New York Jails.
This report was spearheaded by the Campaign to Close Rikers, a coalition of people directly or indirectly affected by the Rikers Prison.
The report by the Data Collaborative for Justice provides a broad overview of the ills that perpetuate throughout New York jails and the role that judges can play in advancing a more just justice system.
The Data Collaborative for Justice report begins by asserting that 85% of inmates residing in New York jails are held pretrial, awaiting the outcomes of their criminal cases.
The Data Collaborative for Justice opines that excessive pretrial detention delegitimizes the legal system. To support this claim, they refer to a ruling made by the Supreme Court in 1987, which states: “In our society, liberty is the norm, and detention prior to trial or without trial is the carefully limited exception.”
The Data Collaborative for Justice reports that pretrial detention undermines “the bedrock principle” that people are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Pretrial detention has also been shown to further exacerbate mental health issues, unemployment and housing insecurity, as noted by the Data Collaborative for Justice.
The Data Collaborative for Justice report, citing multiple studies, claims that pretrial detention does not reduce crime or recidivism, and, in fact, it may increase them. They also emphasize that judges often fail to consider the accused’s “ability to pay” bail, and that pretrial detention disproportionately affects communities of color.
The Data Collaborative for Justice emphasizes that judges impose bail and detention too frequently with insufficient consideration of the ability of the accused to afford bail, in addition to a notable pattern of undue protracted stays in jail while inmates are awaiting trial.
They then provide a comprehensive list of possible reforms for judges and the criminal justice system to implement to curb the quantity of inmates held in pretrial detention.
First, The Data Collaborative for Justice suggests a culture shift within lawmaking bodies through familiarizing judges with the research that highlights the clear racial inequities within the criminal justice system and the low risk rates associated with those with no prior arrests.
Further, The Data Collaborative for Justice proposes that judges should be frequently updated with reports relating to risk assessment and the bail-making process.
The Data Collaborative for Justice also believes it integral that judges are acquainted with evidence supporting the strength and validity of the “release assessment,” which is a service that predicts how likely it is that the accused will appear in court.
Their report asks that judges be reminded of the original intentions of bail: to determine how likely it is that an individual will appear in court, not the amount of danger they pose to the public.
The Data Collaborative for Justice stresses the importance of using forms of bail that do not require financial contribution and the introduction of mandatory bail review hearings.
The Data Collaborative for Justice also suggests broad reforms to case management practices, and proposes that the city of New York should introduce enforceable benchmarks pertaining to the imposition of bail, bail payments, and detention time limits.
In addition, the Data Collaborative for Justice proposes improvements to the court’s publicly available data and details the benefits of establishing a central point of contact for matters involving pretrial detainment.
Beyond the court system, the Data Collaborative for Justice report offers a multitude of potential reforms that could be enacted by the city council and the state legislature.
The Data Collaborative for Justice notes that the timing of this report is especially pertinent due to a recent ruling by a federal judge which orders that Rikers Island be overseen by a “remediation manager” to improve the conditions of jails located on the island.
The judge declared that this drastic step was necessary due to the ‘”the ongoing violations of the constitutional rights of people in custody in the New York City jails,”’ according to the Data Collaborative for Justice.
The Data Collaborative for Justice notes that report released by the Campaign to Close Rikers complements a Lippman Commission report, and builds on strategies contained in a 2021 jail reduction roadmap, a 2022 report on reducing the women’s jail population, and at least two articles published a year ago in Vital City.
These reports are centered around prison reform and decreasing the prison population.
The Data Collaborative for Justice argues, in conclusion, that data-driven solutions—like the report explored above, are paramount in the quest for decarceration.
