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.

Initiatives

Bronx Community Solutions

Bronx Community Solutions applies a problem-solving approach to non-violent cases in the Bronx, providing judges with alternatives to jail and fines.
Brooklyn Justice Initiatives

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

The Staten Island Justice Center seeks to reduce crime and incarceration by providing court-involved participants with supportive services and engaging the community in prevention program
Supervised Release

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

Publications & Digital Media

Audio
Prosecutor Power #4: Kim Foxx, Rooted in Humanity

by Matthew Watkins

Kim Foxx's unexpected 2016 victory in the race for State's Attorney for Cook County (Chicago) helped to ignite the movement to elect prosecutors promising something other than being "tough on crime." As part of our series on prosecutor power, Foxx explains the reforms she’s put in place, her struggles with being the face of a system that continues to fail so many of her constituents, and offers her take on the “incredible” gains made by the movement to elect a new kind of prosecutor.

Addressing Racial Disparities, Bail Reform, Diversion, Reducing Trauma
Book
Start Here: A Road Map to Reducing Mass Incarceration

by Greg Berman and Julian Adler

Written by Greg Berman, director of the Center for Court Innovation, and Julian Adler, director of policy and research, Start Here from the New Press offers a road map of concrete actions to reduce the number of people sent to jail and prison, highlighting key lessons from successful programs across the country.

Bail Reform, Community Justice, Diversion, Reducing Violence, Risk Assessment
Publication
Demystifying Risk Assessment: Key Principles and Controversies

by Sarah Picard-Fritsche, Michael Rempel, Jennifer A. Tallon, Julian Adler, and Natalie Reyes

This paper explains the science underlying risk-based decision-making and explores both the promise and controversies associated with the increasing application of “big data” to the field of criminal justice.

Bail Reform, Risk Assessment

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News

Supervised Release Hits Milestone as City Works Toward Closing Rikers

September 28, 2018
AM New York

A check-in on supervised release—an important, and expanding, alternative to bail and pretrial detention in New York City—as the program reaches 10,000 participants. We operate the program in three of the city's five boroughs.
Supervised Release Finalist for Innovations Award

July 27, 2018
Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice

New York City's supervised release program is a nominee for the prestigious Innovations in American Government Award from Harvard University's Ash Center. As part of the initiative overseen by the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice, we provide supervised release in three of New York City's five boroughs to thousands of defendants every year, helping them avoid incarceration simply because they cannot afford bail.
New York Empties Its Jails

February 1, 2018
Open Democracy

Featuring the alternative sentencing work of our Bronx Community Solutions, an investigation of the factors driving New York City's historic reductions in both incarceration and crime.

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