AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation today released a paper by Center for Effective Justice Director Marc Levin outlining recommendations for effective pretrial justice. The paper, Pretrial Justice 101: Ten Key Points for Policymakers, identifies improvements in pretrial efficiency and how to implement them.
“Certainly, those who are at a high risk of doing violence should be held until their trial so as not to create more victims,” said Levin. “However, detaining too many low-risk offenders imposes a strain on taxpayers and may lead to worse public safety outcomes further down the road. Luckily, agencies have several tools at their disposal from risk assessments to monitoring technologies that ensure the preservation of public safety and significantly reduce the cost to the taxpayer.”
“In many jurisdictions, the decision whether or not to release someone before their trial can lead to the over-detention of low-risk, indigent people and the release of higher-risk people. Tools like pre-trial risk assessment will allow a more-informed decision that better reflects the danger the individual poses to society.”
To read the full report, visit: http://txpo.li/pretrial-justice
Marc A. Levin is director of the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.