What's Happening in Pretrial Justice? April 2025

Pretrial News 🗞️

On the evening of April 22, the Pretrial Justice Institute, along with over 350 other organizations dedicated to promoting justice and safety, received notice that their federally-awarded funds were being terminated immediately by the current administration. While presidential administrations do change priorities, many of these promised funds were discontinued mid-cycle, including PJI’s Willful Flight project. PJI is working with other organizations to examine the legality of these cuts and to determine how to protect our mission and staff.

As we continue to navigate this current landscape, please keep us in mind for opportunities where our expertise can support and strengthen the work ahead. Whether it's technical assistance contracts, leadership development training for pretrial staff and stakeholders, or collaborative projects that center community-based expertise—we welcome these opportunities to generate revenue and continue to serve the field.

If you're able, please consider becoming a monthly sustainer or making a one-time donation. We also encourage you to share our work with your networks and inspire others to invest in our vision as donors and/or sustainers.

Your support directly fuels our mission and ensures our legacy continues.

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Why Pretrial Matters

Colorado Looks at Municipal Courts: Municipal courts, the oft-neglected tier of the legal system, are getting a second look in Colorado. HB25-1147 would ensure municipal courts resemble their state counterparts by: ensuring that sentences handed down in municipal court are in line with state court sentences, requiring legal representation for people in jail, and requiring public access to municipal proceedings. PJI has sent a letter to Jared Polis, governor of Colorado, supporting the bill.

Minnesota Report Identifies Inequities, Solutions: The Minnesota Justice Research Center has released a report on the state’s pretrial system. Investigators found that the state’s current practices rely heavily on wealth to determine pretrial release, and that Black and American Indian/Alaskan Native peoples are overrepresented in pretrial populations. The report recommends replacing the current system with practices that severely curtail the use of pretrial detention and establishing robust, supportive pretrial services.

Chattanooga-Based Bail Fund Releases Jail Study: The Hamilton County Community Bail Fund (Tennessee) has released a study to better understand who is arrested and locked up. In line with national trends, the study found that the majority of arrests were for non-violent offenses and that ZIP codes with majority Black populations had higher rates of arrest. Additionally, 62.4% of people in the county used a bail bondsman to gain pretrial release, with an average bond amount of $7,868. Additionally, the average time in custody has increased from 10 days in 2020 to 21 days in 2022.

It’s a Nice Right…if You Can Get It: The Voting Rights and Democracy Project at Fordham Law offers a succinct understanding of the convoluted legal scheme surrounding the voting rights of people who are locked up pretrial. While people detained pretrial have a right to vote, states can prohibit specific means of voting, such as receiving an absentee ballot. The result is the effective disenfranchisement of people who are legally innocent, whether through prohibitions on polling places in jail, or burdensome statutory requirements. Worth a read!

A Comprehensive Look at Community Bail Funds: What is the history of community bail funds, and what role do they play in pretrial reform? What roadblocks have the bail bond industry tried to throw in the path of community bail funds? The Center for American Progress provides a past-present-future look of bail funds in their new report.

Finally - data on charges for people in jail from this decade: The good folks at the Prison Policy Initiative have produced the first national survey of criminal charges for people in jail in over 20 years. Using data from the Jail Data Initiative, PPI has found that: one-third of jail admissions are for misdemeanor charges; 1 in 8 jail admissions are for alleged probation or parole violations; and looking at the most serious charge, most people are jailed for non-violent offense, particularly women. Click here for more information.

Suicide Risk and Pretrial Detention (TW: discussion of suicide methods): A survey of 800 people who had been released from pretrial detention showed that prior to and after jail detention, the most common method considered and attempted by far was through poisoning, through drugs or alcohol. The study’s authors suggest that these results show that increasing access to substance use treatment may help to moderate significant suicide risk.

Is it just us, or are we EVERYWHERE?

Highlights from the PJI Team

The past is prologue—and Rikers is the proof. Kevin Beckford and Darren Mack of the Freedom Agenda published a powerful op-ed in The Amsterdam News, pointing out the historical roots of Riker’s Island and making connections to the high arrest rates of Black immigrants and politics. 

What does the Innocence Conference have to do with pretrial? That’s what our own Rae Canady was thinking when Guisela asked her to attend the Innocence Conference, which focuses on assisting the wrongfully convicted. As it turns out, it has everything to do with pretrial. “Every wrongful conviction starts in the pretrial stage. Erroneous eyewitness identifications, coerced confessions, withheld evidence, junk science, all occur in pretrial,” said Rae. 

A Legacy for the Future. Our team has been a proud partner of the MacArthur Foundation for the past decade, helping to create transformative convening spaces for the Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC). Over the years, the initiative has steadily expanded, deepening its commitment to rethinking and reducing the use of jails across the country.

As expected, this year’s convening brought together over 600 members of the SJC network—advocates, community leaders, and stakeholders who have all contributed to and benefited from this important work. Our team showed up with deep excitement and intention, creating a space that honored the progress made, nourished attendees amid today’s complex socio-political climate, and amplified the wins and models that must be sustained in order to carry forward the SJC’s legacy.

Chicago welcomed us with open arms and sunny skies—amplifying the joy of being in community for one last network convening!

Big Things are Brewing

At the end of the day, do you ever just want to sit down and talk about the work? Not just your work, but the work, and how it all fits into our shared goal of justice and the end of mass incarceration? What about a space for thought-provoking discussions, featuring experts, activists, and directly impacted individuals? We have something SO GOOD coming your way. Let’s just say we can’t wait to POUR it on!