The US Pretrial System: Balancing Individual Rights and Public Interests

In this article, we review a growing empirical literature on the effectiveness and fairness of US pretrial system discuss its policy implications. Despite importance stage criminal legal process, researchers have only recently begun to explore how balances individual rights public interests. We describe challenges that prevented progress in area recent work has made use new data sources quasi-experimental approaches credibly estimate both harms (such as loss employment or government assistance) benefits preventing non-appearance at court crimes) cash bail detention. These show current imposes substantial short-and long-term economic detained defendants terms lost earnings assistance, while providing little way decreased activity for interest. Non-appearances do significantly decrease defendants, but magnitudes cannot justify individuals observed data. A second set studies shows costs detention are disproportionately borne by Black Hispanic individuals, giving rise large unfair racial differences be explained underlying misconduct risk. then turn implications areas future would enable deeper understanding what drives these undesirable outcomes.