Bail made fair in the District of Columbia: Impact 2016: Justice For All

Jeffrey Pendleton, a homeless man who could not afford the $100 bail on a marijuana charge, recently died in a New Hampshire jail. Sandra Bland could not make the $500 bail after being accused last summer of assaulting a police officer in Texas. She also died in a cell.

Bland and Pendleton are tragic examples of an inequity in justice systems like the one we have in Cuyahoga County. Criminal defendants who have money buy their freedom as they await the resolution of their cases, while many poor defendants are subjected to lengthy stays in jail.

In addition to losing their freedom, some poor defendants lose their jobs or their housing while in jail, or their families are disrupted.

"It's severely damaging to large segments of our population," said Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Ronald Adrine.

Our bail system also is enormously costly to taxpayers. The money we spend jailing people accused of minor offenses could be used more wisely. We could hire more police officers or provide more treatment for mental or drug disorders that many people in jail need so they don't end up accused of new crimes

Today, launches Impact 2016: Justice for All, a series that looks at places that have done what Cuyahoga County has not - remade their justice systems to give all defendants a chance at getting out of jail in a timely and affordable manner.

Does bail discriminate against the poor?

By Sara Dorn

May 16, 2016

Our first stop is Washington, D.C., where the courts have stopped requiring defendants to pay for their freedom with cash. And the system works — 85 percent of defendants are released at their first court appearance without having to make bail, 90 percent of them return to court and 91 percent stay arrest-free while their cases are pending.

Scroll through our slideshow for a look at how D.C.'s system works and how Cuyahoga County might benefit from changing practices here.

Pictured is the D.C. Superior Courthouse

Photo by Sara Dorn,

Next slide: How D.C. limits jail stays

Don't Edit

How D.C. limits jail stays

In Cleveland, someone who is arrested and can’t afford a lawyer is likely to spend at least 36 hours in jail before they get a chance to make bail. But in the District of Columbia, many defendants are immediately freed — and without having to pay.

Those accused of minor offenses in D.C., including driving without a license or drinking in public, can admit their guilt to an officer at the police station, pay a fine and be freed the day of their arrest.

Misdemeanor defendants accused of more serious offenses, such as simple assault or DUI, can also be released with a citation from a police officer and given a date to return to court. D.C. releases about 300 people a month with citations.

Police officers work with D.C.'s pretrial services, the agency that monitors defendants as they move through the court system and keeps records of defendants' criminal and personal history, to determine who is eligible for release on citations. Agency workers are available 24 hours a day, six days a week to assist officers.

Pictured is a District of Columbia police cruiser.

Photo by Sara Dorn,

Next slide: Out within 24 hours

Don't Edit

Out within 24 hours

In D.C., people who are not released the day of their arrest are taken to a jail. At the same time, workers at pretrial services are running background checks and gathering information the judge will need to decide whether the defendants should be released without bail or held for trial.

A roster of all the people who are arrested each day is shared with prosecutors, allowing them to begin deciding on possible charges, and with public defenders, so they can begin meeting with their clients.

All of this is done to ensure that defendants appear in court the day after their arrests and that most jail stays are limited to 24 hours.

“Unlike other jurisdictions, the prosecuting agency is involved in the process early,” said Demond Tigs, special assistant in D.C.’s Pretrial Services Agency. “So people are not waiting for weeks for that prosecutor to make a decision."

The Cleveland Municipal Court tries to set bail for all defendants within 36 hours of their arrests, according to Judge Ronald Adrine. The United States Supreme Court requires anyone who has been arrested to be arraigned within 48 hours.

Plain Dealer file photo

Next slide: Cleveland's "missing link."

Don't Edit

Cleveland's 'missing link'

In the hours before a judge sets their bail, defendants in the District of Columbia are tested for drugs. Pretrial services workers complete a questionnaire, or "risk assessment," about defendants' criminal histories, ties to the community, employment status and more.

All of this allows judges to answer two questions when deciding whether to release defendants: Will the defendant return for their next court date and are they a danger to the community?

Cleveland Municipal Court judges don't have that kind of detailed information when they are deciding on bail, because risk assessments are not done until defendants make a second appearance in Common Pleas Court. Municipal Judge Marilyn B. Cassidy describes this as the "missing link" in Cleveland's bail system.

Some Cleveland judges say they are lucky to have access to the criminal histories of felony suspects, and some on-the-fly information they get from defense attorneys in the courtroom, usually about a defendant’s employment status.

Without information they need to weigh a defendant’s risk of flight or re-arrest, Cleveland judges often err on the side of caution and set high bond amounts.

"The thing running around in your head is: if I make a mistake and let someone out of jail, and they go out and do something heinous, we are going to find our names on the front page of The Plain Dealer," Cleveland Municipal Court Administrative Judge Ronald Adrine said.

"And none of us want to have our names on the front of The Plain Dealer when it's going to be associated with anything heinous."

Pictured is the Cuyahoga County Justice Center.

Photo by Marvin Fong, Plain Dealer Publishing Co.

Next slide: Cleveland's efforts at reform

Don't Edit

Cleveland's efforts at reform

Cleveland Municipal Court knows its system needs to be improved, and earlier this year judges began allowing clerks to immediately release some defendants facing low-level misdemeanor charges without having to post money for bail.

This practice prevents some people from sitting in jail because they can't afford nominal bonds 10 percent of a $1,000 or $5,000 bail in most cases — determined by "bond schedules" that base bail amounts on the level of charges.

The new method also reduces jail costs. But the majority of defendants still wait 36 hours in jail before they have a chance at being freed on bail.

Pictured is Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Ronald Adrine.

Plain Dealer file photo

Next slide: Assessing the risk of release

Don't Edit
Don't Edit

Sara Dorn,

Assessing the risk of release

Washington’s 70-question risk assessment was developed specifically for the District of Columbia, and reflects the average age of people who are arrested, the types of crimes most frequently committed, and other information.

The questions cover a defendant’s age, criminal history, status with the justice system, connections to the community, mental health, employment status and more. Workers in pretrial services use the information to calculate the level of risk that defendants pose to society if released prior to trial and to make recommendations to judges.  The five possible recommendations reflect the degrees of risk: very low, low, medium, high and very high.

Pretrial services workers also use the assessment to recommend conditions for release — such as drug testing, mental-health treatment or GPS tracking.

Photo by Sara Dorn,

The next slide: Supervision is a key in D.C.

Don't Edit

Supervision is a key in D.C.

D.C. judges order released defendants to follow a regimen designed to keep them out of trouble and to ensure they return to court. Judges can order defendants to undergo random drug testing, check in nightly with the court, enroll in a drug-treatment program or wear a GPS ankle bracelet.

Pretrial services workers recommend these conditions based on a rating of the risk each defendant poses to the public. The higher the risk, the more strict the conditions.

This system for keeping tabs on defendants eases judges’ fears that suspects might commit  crimes while free.

"They know pretrial really has their back," Pretrial Services Special Assistant Demond Tigs said. "If they decide to release somebody, they know we have the supervision techniques to make them feel comfortable."

Pretrial services monitors about 18,000 defendants each year. Still other defendants are released without monitoring.

The result? 91 Ninety-one percent of defendants stay out of trouble while awaiting trial, and 90 percent return to court.

Pictured is a drug-testing facility in Washington.

Photo by Sara Dorn,

Next slide: "The beauty of D.C. is there is really no wait time."

Don't Edit

'The beauty of D.C. is there is really no wait time'

In Washington, defendants often see a judge – and are released without bail – less than 24 hours after their arrest, because of the streamlined process that immediately involves prosecutors and pretrial services workers on each case.

But in Cuyahoga County, defendants wait up to 36 hours in jail for an opportunity to post bail, and many poor defendants can't afford the amount that is set.

Defendants accused of felonies can wait weeks before they have a chance at having their bail reduced by a common pleas judge.

Municipal court judges are reluctant to set low bails because they lack the background information needed to properly assess the risk that defendants might pose if they are free. An assessment of the risk that felony suspects pose to the public is not completed until another hearing is held in common pleas court.

The average wait time for the Common Pleas Court hearing? About 30 days.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judges are trying to reduce that wait time by holding another bond hearing for fourth-, fifth- and non-violent third-degree felony offenders within three to four days after their cases are bound over, according to Judge John J. Russo, who said he started the new docket to give defendants a second chance at bond sooner and connect them with a defense attorney.

Defendants also spend more time in Cuyahoga County jails simply because the court doesn't maintain evening hours.

D.C.'s pretrial services department operates 24 hours a day to get a head-start on preparing cases and to ensure defendants appear in court within 24 hours of their arrest. The D.C. Superior Court has hearings to set bail on Saturdays and beginning at 1 p.m. every weekday. The court remains open until bail is set for every defendant arrested the day before.

"The beauty of D.C. is there really is no wait time," said Demond Tigs, special assistant in D.C.’s Pretrial Services Agency. "Fundamentally, people should have a right to due process. So how do you get due process? You have to have a system that's efficient and allows people to be arraigned in a timely fashion."

Photo by Sara Dorn,

Next slide: What does this mean for you?

Don't Edit

What does this mean for you?

Most of you never have to deal with bail and jail, but Cuyahoga County's cumbersome bail system is an issue that affects your pocketbooks — and quality of life.

The pocketbook problem is obvious: Jailing people is hugely expensive, and needlessly jailing defendants awaiting trial is wasteful. Spending fewer tax dollars on keeping people locked up, leaves more money for programs that can help keep offenders from committing new crimes.

The potential for savings is big: D.C. spends $200 per day to jail someone, and an average of $18 a day to supervise someone on pretrial release in the district's general supervision program. By monitoring 6,000 to 7,000 defendants at any given time, rather than jailing them, D.C. saves more than $1 million a day.

Cuyahoga County spends about $88 per day to jail someone, according to the prosecutor's website.

A December report by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office found that 36 percent of defendants were kept in jail in 2013 because they could not afford bail. Of those 3,550 defendants who couldn't pay, 1,436 were accused of fourth and fifth degree felonies, the lowest level offenses. If judges had waived bail for just the defendants facing the lowest level charges, they would have saved $126,000 a day in jail costs.

The other 64 percent - the 6,312 people who could afford their bail - still spent an average of 5.6 days in jail. If judges had released those people at their initial bond hearings, they could have saved taxpayers $3.1 million in jail costs.

As for quality of life? Recent research shows jails breed criminals. The idea is that the longer people are in jail, the more likely they are to lose their jobs or custody of their children and to be influenced by criminals they encounter behind bars  — all factors that can lead to repeat criminal behavior. Then they end up back on the street, hardened versions of their former selves and more likely to commit crimes that could victimize you or your neighborhood.

And if they end up back in jail, you will be reaching back into your pocketbooks.

Photo by Cory Shaffer,

Click here to read more from our first installment of Justice For All, and learn how D.C.'s no-bail system saves taxpayers $398 million per year.

Don't Edit