Implementation and Evaluation of Bail/Pretrial Release Guidelines in Maricopa County Superior Court, Dade County Circuit Court, and Boston Municipal Court

• NCJ Number: 124015
• Author(s): J S Goldkamp; M R Gottfredson; P R Jones
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 156 pages
• Grant Number(s): 84-IJ-CX-0056
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Survey

Annotation

Three structurally, politically, and geographically different sites in terms of the laws governing bail and detention were selected -- Maricopa County Superior Court, Dade County Circuit Court, and Boston Municipal Court -- to conduct research designed to determine whether the voluntary guidelines approach to parole and sentencing could improve the visibility and rationality of the highly discretionary bail decision process and make bail practices both more equitable and effective.

Abstract

The report focus is on the implementation of the guidelines as the courts dealt with progressing from the abstract to the practical questions of innovating a new approach and the evaluation of the initial use of these guidelines if implementation occurred. In each of the jurisdictions, the guidelines process included descriptive research, problem identification, and the development of decision guidelines. Large samples of recent bail decisions were collected to be representative of the decisionmaking of five courts in the three sites. The guidelines process proceeded to implement the guidelines in Maricopa County Superior Court and in Dade County Circuit Court but not in the Boston Municipal Court. This report examines the experience with the guidelines process of these three court systems and the evaluation research conducted in two systems. Report conclusions address the strengths and weaknesses of the guidelines experience and identify ways the bail/pretrial release guidelines can be made to work effectively. 8 tables, 5 references, 2 appendixes.