Reimagining Pretrial & Sentencing

• Published in: Contexts (Berkeley, Calif.) Calif.), 2021-11, Vol.20 (4), p.14-21
• Main Authors: Lattimore, Pamela K., Spohn, Cassia, Demichele, Matthew
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Community organizations; Courts; Crime prevention; Criminal justice; Criminal sentences; Human capital; Imprisonment; Law enforcement; Probation; Reforms; Victimization
• ISSN: 1536-5042; 1537-6052
• DOI: 10.1177/15365042211058120

In this article, we discuss the evolution of criminal justice reform efforts focused on pretrial and sentencing policies and practices that resulted in unprecedented rates of incarceration. There is an urgent need to identify a strategy of pretrial justice and sentencing that will reduce crime and victimization, ameliorate unwarranted disparities, and reclaim human capital currently lost to incarceration. A discussion of proposed policy reforms should begin by first identifying the costs incurred by pretrial decisions (and across further decision points in the justice system) on both the system and the collateral costs to the detained, their families and their communities. In the short-term, jurisdictions should reconsider probation and parole policies and practices that contribute to mass incarceration. Mid-term improvements require inter-agency approaches by law enforcement, prosecutors, and the courts to institute alternatives to incarceration and collaborate with health and community organizations to address underlying issues that lead to local justice system intervention. Importantly, what we highlight is the need for a long-term approach designed to slow the flow of individuals into jails and prisons and to reduce the lengths of sentences they are serving.