Trends in Own Recognizance Release: From Manhattan to California
![handle is hein.journals/mcglr5 and id is 691 raw text is: Trends In Own Recognizance Release:
From Manhattan To California
The bail system in the United States has long been criticized
as unfair to those having limited financial resources and irrelevant
as to the central question of which defendants should be able to
secure pretrial release. Own recognizance release projects have
received considerable attention in recent years, and the viability
of an OR program as an alternative to the bail system provides
the theme for this comment. The author analyzes nonappearance
and recidivism rates for various bailed and OR control groups and
examines the cost implications of both systems. Consideration of
a rather startling New York study concerning the effects of pre-
trial detention on final case disposition, along with the applicable
California statutory OR provisions leads to the inevitable conclusion
that OR is as successful as bail in guaranteeing appearance in
court while at the same time providing a greater measure of fair-
ness to all defendants. The author offers legislation which would
implement a state-wide OR project and furnish a palliative for
the inequities in the present system.
If it is true that the quality of a nation's civilization can be largely
measured by the methods it uses in the enforcement of its criminal
law, then the American bail system . . can no longer be tol-
erated. At best, it is a system of checkbook justice; at worst, a
highly commercialized racket.1
This sentiment, expressed nearly ten years ago by former Justice
Goldberg, reflected the view widely held by members of the criminal
justice system that the monetary bail system was no longer in step
with the needs of our modem and largely urban society. As an out-
growth of this concern, the last decade has witnessed a flurry of activity
in bail reform on both the state2 and federal' levels. This comment
1. R. GOLDFARB, RANSOM ix (1965) [hereinafter cited as RANsoM].
2. Bowman, The Illinois Ten Per Cent Bail Deposit Provision, 1965 U. ITL. L.
FoRUm 35.
3. 18 U.S.C. §3146 (1966); Wald & Freed, The Bail Reform Act of 1966: A
Practitioner's Primer, 52 A.B.A.J. 940 (1966); NATONAL CONFERENCE ON BAIL AND
CmMNAL JUSTICE, BAIL AND SUMMONS: 1965; NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BAIL AND
CRIMINAL JUSTICE, PROCEEDINGS AND INTERIM REPORT (1965).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/mcglr5&div=47&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Trends in Own Recognizance Release: From Manhattan to California
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