Bail Reform

We design and implement bail reform strategies to reduce the use of jail and increase the fairness of the justice system.

On any given day, people who haven’t been found guilty of any crime are detained across the U.S. because of an inability to post bail. This imposes enormous costs: for taxpayers, for detainees and their families, and for their communities.

The Center for Court Innovation works to promote bail reform in a number of ways. We operate supervised release programs that provide pretrial supervision and voluntary social services as an alternative to detention. We design and evaluate risk assessment tools and advocate for the careful and ethical expansion of their use to improve pretrial decision-making. We produce comprehensive recommendations for simplifying New York City’s bail payment process. And we provide research and strategic support to the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform which put reducing pretrial detention at the center of its recommendations for safely reducing the city’s jail population and closing the Rikers Island jail facility.

For additional details on how bail is a financial burden for those with limited means, see our Fines and Fees resource page.

Initiatives

Bronx Community Solutions

Bronx Community Solutions provides community-based alternatives to jail, restores community relationships, and helps participants avoid further criminal justice involvement.
Brooklyn Justice Initiatives

Brooklyn Justice Initiatives seeks to improve how the centralized criminal court in Brooklyn responds to misdemeanor and felony cases.
Staten Island Justice Center

The Staten Island Justice Center seeks to reduce crime and incarceration by providing court-involved participants with services and by engaging the community in prevention programs.
MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge

The MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge seeks to reduce over-incarceration by changing the way America thinks about and uses jails.
Price of Justice Initiative

The Price of Justice Initiative helps jurisdictions address the disparate impact of fines and fees on defendants who cannot afford them.
Rethinking Rikers Island

By providing support to the Independent Commission on Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform, we're aiding in the effort to reduce New York City’s jail population and close Rikers Island.
Supervised Release Program

The Supervised Release Program reduces the number of people held in jail simply because they cannot afford bail.

Publications & Digital Media

Video
Changemakers in Action: Chidinma Ume

by William Harkins

Chidinma Ume is a connector of both people and resources as she consults with communities nationally to implement justice reforms. Based in our West Coast office, Chidinma serves as deputy director of policy, a role that allows her to provide jurisdictions advice, support, and training in the areas of jail reduction, criminal justice debt reform, and to work with government and community leaders on evidence-informed practices. Hear from Chidinma how she approaches the work of transforming justice in an effort to co-create a fairer, more human-centered system for all.

Bail Reform, Problem-Solving Justice, Procedural Justice, Rethinking Incarceration
Publication
Bail Reform Revisited: The Impact of New York’s Amended Law

by Michael Rempel and Krystal Rodriguez

Our analysis of the revisions passed in April 2020 to New York State’s bail reform projects they will lead to a 16 percent increase in New York City’s pretrial jail population, relative to the effects of the original law. However, even the revised statute makes an estimated 84 percent of cases ineligible for bail. The analysis also weighs factors, including the COVID-19 emergency, that could produce a culture change in pretrial decision-making—in the direction of less, or more, reliance on detention.

Addressing Racial Disparities, Bail Reform
Publication
Beyond the Algorithm: Pretrial Reform, Risk Assessment, and Racial Fairness

by Sarah Picard, Matt Watkins, Michael Rempel, and Ashmini G. Kerodal

Drawing on a case study of more than 175,000 defendants in New York City, this report concludes concerns over risk assessments perpetuating racial disparities in pretrial decisions are real. However, at least in the New York City example, it finds a more targeted use of risk assessments could both significantly reduce pretrial detention and alleviate racial disparities. But realizing that potential requires jurisdictions to think "beyond the algorithm"—what do they want to use a risk assessment for?

Addressing Racial Disparities, Bail Reform, Risk Assessment, Technology

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News

Getting More Women off Rikers Island

July 25, 2022
New York Daily News

The vast majority of women at Rikers are awaiting trial, and this op-ed by former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman and Sharon White-Harrigan lay out the path to reduce the population of women and gender-expansive people currently detained on Rikers Island, referencing our co-authored report, Path to Under 100.
Do We Protect NYC by Jailing New Yorkers?

January 16, 2022
NY Daily News

Written by Vincent Schiraldi, the former commissioner of New York City’s Departments of Correction, this article urges looking at New York City's history of substantially reducing incarceration over decades while simultaneously lowering crime when currently evaluating bail reform. With links to our Jail in New York City Evidence-Based Opportunities report, Schiraldi cites our research stating that individuals sentenced to city jails increases a person’s recidivism rate.
Crisis At Rikers: How Case Delays are Locking Up More and More People for Years Without Trial

November 23, 2021
Gothamist

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City’s court system has seen a backlog of cases, nearly 52,000 criminal cases were pending as of November 2021. The article cites our report on closing Rikers Island that found that improvements to the court backlog and case processing times could lower the city jail population by more than 1,000 people.

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