University Study Finds Colorado Pretrial Risk Assessment Tool is Biased Against African-American Defendants We’ve been hard at work the last couple of years warning state legislators and the Colorado Commission on Juvenile Justice (CCJJ) to stop advocating for statewide pretrial risk assessments and pretrial services because the Colorado Pretrial RiskRead More →
A new study bolsters claims that a widely used pretrial risk assessment exacerbates racial disparities in Colorado’s jails (excerpt from Colorado Newsline Aug 14 2020) On Oct. 8, 2018, Samuel Bouknight was arrested on Colfax Avenue and booked into the Denver city jail for driving under the influence of alcohol.Read More →
Conference of Chief Justices’ Indefensible Policy on Pretrial Risk Assessment (excerpt from Attorney at Law Magazine – Aug 13 2020) For all the talk in this nation about bail reform the past few years, the move to the use of risk assessment as a one-size-fits-all solution has been touted andRead More →
“F the Courts” and Free Repeat Rapists and Cop Killers: Hollywood-Funded Bail Funds Harming Public Safety and Destabilizing Criminal Justice Bail funds are popping up all over the country in an attempt to upend the criminal justice system. In all but one state (New York), these bail funds go unregulated,Read More →
The Buckeye Institute Declares Victory On Bail Reform Amid Clear Defeat The Buckeye Institute has done everything possible in their push to “end cash bail” in Ohio the last few years by advocating for the statewide mandate of pretrial risk assessments and the expansion of risk-based preventative detention. Recent changesRead More →
A BAIL REFORM TOOL INTENDED TO CURB MASS INCARCERATION HAS ONLY REPLICATED BIASES IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM (excerpt from The Intercept – July 12 2020) TWO YEARS AGO, Demontez Campbell, who goes by Tez, was arrested for third-degree burglary stemming from what he says was a domestic dispute atRead More →
Exhausted U.S. cities face another challenge: A surge in violence (excerpt from StarTribune – July 9 2020) Police officials in New York City and elsewhere say the recent bloodshed has shown there are consequences to some reforms they see as misguided, particularly on bail reform, enacted before the protests happenedRead More →
Bail funds under scrutiny after nationwide protests (excerpt from News Press Now – June 20 2020) The decisions of bail funds, often used to help low-level offenders out of jail, are under scrutiny by the American Bail Coalition following nationwide protests over George Floyd’s death. Jeffrey Clayton, executive director ofRead More →
Minneapolis looters sprung from jail without bail (excerpt from The Washington Times, June 10 2020) Hundreds of rioters arrested by the Minneapolis police during the George Floyd protests were immediately back on the streets when authorities refused to press charges and released them without bail. Law enforcement advocates said theRead More →
Unregulated Charitable Bail Funds Upending the Criminal Justice System and Federal Immigration In Wake of Anti-Criminal Justice Momentum While Minneapolis simply considers eliminating the police department altogether, the unregulated Minnesota Freedom Fund is not so quietly making their mark on criminal justice: wealthy donors are giving millions of dollars toRead More →
