Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2022
Abstract
This Report reveals a fractured and freewheeling federal pretrial detention system that has strayed far from the norm of pretrial liberty. This Report is the first broad national investigation of federal pretrial detention, an often overlooked, yet highly consequential, stage of the federal criminal process. Our Clinic undertook an in-depth study of federal bond practices, in which courtwatchers gathered data from hundreds of pretrial hearings. Based on our empirical courtwatching data and interviews with nearly 50 stake-holders, we conclude that a “culture of detention” pervades the federal courts, with habit and courtroom custom overriding the
written law...” Our Report aims to identify why the federal system has abandoned the norm of liberty, to illuminate the resulting federal jailing crisis, and to address how the federal judiciary can rectify that crisis. This Report also fills a gaping hole in the available public data about the federal pretrial detention process and identifies troubling racial disparities in both pretrial detention practices and outcomes.
Recommended Citation
Federal Criminal Justice Clinic, University of Chicago Law School., "Freedom Denied: How the Culture of Detention Created a Federal Jailing Crisis" (2022). Federal Criminal Justice Clinic. 1.
https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/fcjc/1
