WHAT IF we followed the Constitutional standards for pretrial release?

"I want people to be treated as people because that is what they are. Just because they may be temporarily in the county jail, they are still an individual, they are still someone's child, they are still someone's parent." — Hon. Carla Baldwin One way to lower jail populations is to go back to basics — Constitutional basics, that is. The Supreme Court articulated the principle: “In our society liberty is the norm, and detention prior to trial or without trial is the carefully limited exception.” The question of whether to detain someone for safety concerns should be explored through a rigorous hearing with due process protections. Actual flight from prosecution is another valid consideration, not to be confused with nonappearance for lack of transportation or other logistical issues. This 30-minute event examined how pretrial justice would transform if judicial officers only looked at the risk of fleeing prosecution and committing a violent offense when considering the possibility of pretrial detention. FEATURING: Hon. Carla J. Baldwin Presiding Judge, Youngtown, OH Shavonte Keaton Senior Associate, Pretrial Justice Institute Meghan Guevara Executive Partner, Pretrial Justice Institute