What's Happening in Pretrial Justice? August 2025

White House Takes Aim at “Cashless” Bail: On August 25, the President issued two executive orders related to bail in the District of Columbia and nationwide calling for the end of “cashless” bail. The executive order relating to the District of Columbia seeks to undermine DC’s no cash bail policy by moving cases to the federal court and withholding funding if the District maintains a policy of prohibiting cash bail. The other executive order calls on the attorney general to develop a list of states and local jurisdiction that have substantially eliminated cash bail “for crimes that pose a clear threat to public safety” and then identify federal funds that may be suspended or terminated.

If you’re on our mailing list, you know that there is no connection between cash bail and public safety, and that places without cash bail–including the District of Columbia–have the ability to detain someone pretrial if they present a threat to the community. Please contribute here to purchase a seat in our next Pretrial 101 class for the president and attorney general so that we can show them ways to implement pretrial policy that is safe and smart for all.

Illinois Folks, Make Your Voices Heard! The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice is urging people in the state to reach out to their elected officials to defend the Pretrial Fairness Act. You can send a letter here.

This Doesn’t Work: In late July, the President released an executive order that claims to seek to provide “humane” treatment through long-term institutional commitments of people who are homeless while simultaneously encouraging states to criminalize homelessness and demanding that people who are homeless be moved “far” from the nation’s capital. The order also explicitly ends support for “housing first” policies, which have been shown to decrease homelessness, reduce substance use and lower arrests.

Pretrial Cellphone Program in Massachusetts: The Pretrial Services Unit of Massachusetts Probation Services is offering cellphones to clients through the Smart Phone Equal Access Connection (SPEAC) Program. Funded through a Massachusetts Trial Court Innovation grant, the cellphones may be used by people enrolled in MassHealth/Health Connector or those recently released from detention to receive court reminders or connect with reentry services.

Presumptive Pretrial Release Comes with Big Potential Benefits: A new study of people with pretrial status in federal court found that the effect of a policy that preemptively released all people except those with the highest risk score on the Pretrial Risk Assessment (PTRA) would result in a 34.2% reduction in pretrial detention, a 31.8% increase in successful community releases and only a 1.6% increase in public safety risk. The cost savings would be approximately $3.5 billion and Black people would experience an astonishing 39% detention reduction (versus 27.3% for whites).

Competency Restoration Takes Too Long, Creates Harm: The Legal Aid Society and a New York University law clinic have filed a class action on behalf of people held on Rikers Island while awaiting competency restoration. The suit alleges that widespread failures by the New York Office of Mental Health (OMH) and its partners lead to excessive delays in receiving treatment, put people at risk of harm and violence, and also overlook opportunities for people to receive treatment in the community, rather than in a secured facility. The median wait time for a transfer to a OMH facility was 81 days in 2024.

Things that Make Pretrial Geeks Go Ooooh: A recent post from the UNC School of Government blog discusses custody release practices to third parties in different states. Some states offer descriptions of what is expected of these custodians, such as the ability to reasonably assure the appearance of the subject person in court. Alaska law is unique because it has a vetting process for custodians and penalties for custodians who do not immediately report a violation of conditions of release. Check it out!

Mediation-Trained Responders to 911 Calls: Dignity Best Practices is offering an amazing opportunity to two cities or counties: 15 months of grant-funded technical assistance to launch mediation-trained, unarmed responders for nonviolent dispute-based 911 calls. Jurisdictions can either build a designated field mediation team, or cross-train existing mobile crisis teams. Funding provided by the AAA-ICDR Foundation. Applications are due October 1.

Something’s brewing, and it’s almost ready to serve: This Fall, we’re bringing you fresh content, bold learning opportunities, and new ways to plug into the fight for justice. Together, we’re challenging mass incarceration and building real community safety. The countdown is on—are you in?

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