University of Pretrial Library

The State of Pretrial Justice in America is the Pretrial Justice Institute’s first comprehensive effort to gauge pretrial outcomes across the United States. It measures three basic indicators for each state with the goal of setting a baseline against which progress can be tracked: the rate at which people are detained before trial; the extent to which each state uses evidence-based pretrial assessment; and whether or not a state has functionally eliminated money bail.

This report is intended to stimulate further conversation about reform possibilities and action. Already, great strides are being taken by courageous stakeholders across the country. When those strides result in maximized liberty, maximized safety, and maximized appearance in court without methods that cause harm, grades will improve and a new national standard of pretrial justice will emerge.

The Pretrial Justice Institute (PJI) is centering racial justice as the foundation of our vision, mission and work to advance pretrial justice in order to end mass incarceration. This document may contain language choices or recommendations that are no longer aligned with this vision, but it remains in the UP library because of technical, subject-matter or historical merit. (October 2019)