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 applies a problem-solving approach to cases in the Bronx centralized criminal court, providing judges with community-based alternatives to jail and fines.
Brooklyn Justice Initiatives

Brooklyn Justice Initiatives seeks to improve how the centralized criminal court in Brooklyn responds to misdemeanor and 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 by engaging the community in prevention prog
Supervised Release

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

Publications & Digital Media

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
Publication
New York’s Bail Reform Law: Major Components and Implications

by Michael Rempel and Krystal Rodriguez

In January 2020, New York State put into effect sweeping criminal justice legislation, strictly curtailing the use of cash bail and pretrial detention, overhauling rules governing the sharing of evidence, and strengthening measures to ensure a defendant's right to a speedy trial. Our analysis of the potential implications of the reforms to bail finds they can be expected to significantly reduce the use of incarceration in the state.

Bail Reform
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, Procedural Justice, Reducing Violence, Risk Assessment

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News

New Laws Taking Effect January 1

December 31, 2019
The New York Times

The New York Times highlights laws across the country going into effect on January 1, 2020, including New York's criminal justice reform. "New York will become the latest state to eliminate cash bail for misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, which could see more than 40 percent of inmates released from pretrial detention," citing our bail reform analysis.
In the New Year, Cash Bail Abolished in New York

December 31, 2019
The New York Times

What will bail reform in New York on January 1 look like? “Estimates of what’s going to happen have ranged...There are still a lot of unknowns,” says our director Greg Berman in the New York Times.
What New Laws Are Coming To New York In 2020

December 30, 2019
Gothamist

In an overview of the laws going into effect in New York in 2020, this article highlights changes to cash bail and discovery reform and references our research and analysis on the potential implications, including an estimate that the pretrial jail population may be reduced by 2,100 people in New York City.

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