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108 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 701 (2018)
Toward a Just Model of Pretrial Release: A History of Bail Reform and a Prescription for What's Next

handle is hein.journals/jclc108 and id is 733 raw text is: 0091 4169/19/10804 0701 THE JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW & CRIMINOLOGY Vol. 108, No. 4 Copyright © 2019 by Alexa Van Brunt & Locke E. Bowman Printed in U.S.A. TOWARD A JUST MODEL OF PRETRIAL RELEASE: A HISTORY OF BAIL REFORM AND A PRESCRIPTION FOR WHAT'S NEXT ALEXA VAN BRUNT LOCKE E. BOWMAN* The criminal justice system is in the midst of the third wave of bail reform in the United States. The current movement aims to end the ingrained practices of wealth-based discrimination in pretrial administration. The authors-civil rights attorneys who have litigated the issue of cash bond in Cook County, Illinois-have been on the front lines of this policy shift. From this vantage, we conduct a historical analysis of modern-day bail reform efforts in the 'first and second waves of bail reform, and examine the impact of these reforms on incarceration rates and racial disparities in the justice system. We explain how these earlier efforts both influenced and created the conditions for the third wave reforms that are now underway, including a groundswell of class action litigation that seeks to minimize pretrial detention by breathing new life into longstanding principles of equal protection and due process. We then analyze the impact of these third wave reforms nationwide, while using Cook County as a case study. The results suggest reason for both optimism and caution, particularly in jurisdictions where advocates have been willing to trade a more expansive scheme of preventive detention for the elimination of the cash bail system. We conclude with observations in support of a just system of pretrial release-one that relies neither on *Alexa Van Brunt is the Director of Legal Initiatives for the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center and a Clinical Associate Professor of Law at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. Locke E. Bowman is the Executive Director of the MacArthur Justice Center and a Clinical Professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. Both served as plaintiffs' counsel in the class action lawsuit, Zachary Robinson and Michael Lewis et al. v. Leroy Martin Jr. et al., No. 2016 CH 13578 (Cir. Ct. Ck. Cty.) (filed Oct. 14, 2016), which challenged the use of monetary conditions in Cook County's pretrial release decisions. They continue to litigate the issue of pretrial detention in Illinois.

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