What's Happening in Pretrial Justice? February 2025

Pretrial News 🗞️

A Mess in Texas. Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared bail reform an emergency legislative priority in the state’s current legislative session, and the legislature is currently considering several bills to limit access to pretrial liberty. These bills have made it out of committee:

• Senate Bill 9 would make certain people charged with felonies ineligible for bail, including those on parole for a felony and other people ineligible for release on personal bond.

• Senate Joint Resolution 1 would change the state constitution to require courts to deny bail to a person who is undocumented and charged with a felony.

• Senate Joint Resolution 5, would create a constitutional amendment allowing judges to deny bail in cases where a person is charged with sexual offenses punishable as a felony of the first degree, a violent offense, or continuous trafficking of persons.

On February 15th, PJI submitted written testimony in strong opposition to SB 9 and SJR 1, warning that these measures would expand pretrial detention, undermine public safety, exacerbate racial disparities, and violate constitutional rights. We encouraged the state legislature, instead, to invest in community-driven solutions that keep communities safe.

Not To Be Outdone in Tennessee. Tennessee Senate Joint Resolution No. 919 would amend the state constitution to expand the type of charges that courts would not be required to admit to bail to include some non-capital offenses. This resolution has already passed in a previous legislative session, and would need to pass in the current session in order to become law. If you’re a Tennessean who cares about bail reform, we recommend the ACLU report on the impact of money bail in the state’s rural areas.

Report Calls for End of Money Bond in Minnesota. A study requested by the Minnesota legislature and conducted by the Minnesota Justice Research Center has found that 56% of people in the state’s jails are being held pretrial, that Black and American Indian/Alaskan Natives are vastly overrepresented in state jails and the rural counties have the highest rates of pretrial detention. The report calls for an end to a wealth-based system, implementing supportive pretrial services, and addressing the needs of victims and survivors in the pretrial process.

Closing Riker’s Means Expanding ATIs. The NYC ATI (Alternatives to Incarceration) & Reentry Coalition has released a new report, emphasizing and demonstrating how expanding ATIs can help New York reach the goal of closing Rikers Island–the city’s largest jail–by 2027. While ATIs are one part of a broader effort towards decarceration and safety, the report shows how these  programs foster success and are a part of transforming the system and cultivating safety.

Tools & Resources 🔧

What’s Your State’s Safety Snapshot? The Justice Reinvestment Initiative offers recent state-level data for all 50 states regarding crime trends, arrests, behavioral health needs and resources, recidivism, housing affordability, homelessness, and more in one place. One major takeaway? Deaths due to suicide, alcohol and drug overdoses far exceed deaths due to violent crime. (Makes you wonder how much states are investing in mental health and substance use resources versus the criminal legal system.) Check it out here.

Toolkit for Investigating Jail Deaths. Data about deaths in custody, including jails and prisons, are vastly underreported. A 2022 bipartisan Senate report found that nearly 1000 deaths had been missed in a single year. Now The Marshall Project is offering a nuts and bolts toolkit to empower journalists and others to investigate deaths as well as the opportunity to consult with seasoned journalists on how to proceed.

Immigration + Pretrial. The intersection between immigration rights and pretrial rights has never been more critical. This piece from The Marshall Project highlights what the first few weeks of mass arrests mean for the criminal legal system nationwide - particularly those who seek to profit from these actions. On a local level, Afrikana, a Harlem-based organization focusing specifically on the needs of Black, Arab and Muslim arrivals, has come out with a Know Your Rights zine in English, Spanish, French and Fulani, free for printing and sharing. Check it out!  

Upcoming Learning Events 📅

The National League of Cities is holding a webinar on how meaningful public safety dashboards can drive meaningful change on Wednesday, February 26 at 11 am ET. Register here!

CORNERS (Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research and Science) and the Giffords Center will hold a webinar on making community violence intervention (CVI) a core pillar of public safety infrastructure on Thursday, March 20 at 1-2:30 CST. Register here.

Looking for Glimmers✨

Here at PJI, Ivanna Crowe–our tech guru and #1 Swiftie--has encouraged us to start looking for glimmers, moments of hope or inspiration that keep us going. This month, it’s Justice Forward Virginia, a grassroots criminal justice reform organization. They started with a handful of public defenders in 2017, and in 2025 had at least 70 participants at the Justice Reform Lobby Day! For this legislative session, their work has included ending the practice of shackling youth in court (SB1255) and beating back mass surveillance (HB2724). PJI’s own Kevin Beckford provided testimony to Virginia legislators on another critical pretrial issue, counsel at first appearance. Keep it going - let us know your glimmer!