Roundtables on Pretrial Practice

“This is a moment in the field where big change is possible.”
~ President Jeremy Travis, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

At a watershed moment of declining violent crime and broad political and public support for reform, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, in partnership with the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, brought together thought leaders from across the field for two groundbreaking roundtables in 2015 focused on rethinking the front end of the criminal justice system through research, reform, and renewed dialogue.

Led by John Jay President Jeremy Travis and former New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram, top practitioners from law enforcement, prosecution, criminal defense, the judiciary, pretrial services, and corrections gathered with legal scholars and public policy advocates to ask the hard questions about what works in reducing arrests, crime, pretrial detention, and costs while simultaneously increasing legitimacy, fairness, and the dignity of the justice-involved. Participants engaged in far-ranging discussions about how to remake pretrial through early intervention, innovative policing strategies, risk-based pretrial decision-making, and evidence-based pretrial supervision, all grounded in an important conversation about the core values that underpin American justice: proportionality, parsimony, citizenship, and social justice.

Reports on the Roundtables on Pretrial Practice

PRI is excited to announce the release of two reports documenting two Pretrial Roundtables held at John Jay College in March and October of 2015. The Roundtables brought together preeminent scholars and practitioners from around the country to identify trends, areas of consensus, and gaps in what we know about pretrial justice, and to begin charting a national pretrial research agenda. PRI was truly thrilled to convene this critical conversation, which now sits at the cutting edge of criminal justice reform, with generous support from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. The reports offer an overview of the discussions, areas of consensus, and opportunities for further exploration identified by the Roundtable scholars. We encourage you to read further to see the bold ideas, vibrant discourse, areas of consensus, and opportunities for further exploration that resulted from these significant convenings to reframe the narrative surrounding the pretrial phase of the criminal justice system.

 

Arnold I CoverPretrial Practice: Rethinking the Front End of the Criminal Justice System | A Report on the Roundtable on Pretrial Practice (March 18-20, 2015)

 

 

 

 

 

Arnold 2 Cover

Pretrial Practice: Building a National Research Agenda for the Front End of the Criminal Justice SystemA Report on the Roundtable on Pretrial Practice (October 26-27, 2015)