AIA’s booklet, Taxpayer Funded Pretrial Release: A Failed System, has been added to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service’s (NCJRS) library. NCJRS is one of the largest criminal justice reference libraries and databases in the world. NCJRS is federally funded and its collection contains more than 205,000 publications, including Federal, State and Local government reports, books, research reports, journal articles, documents and unpublished research on a wide range of criminal justice topics.
The inclusion of AIA’s pretrial release booklet in this reference library legitimizes it as well-researched material that makes a solid case against taxpayer funded release. Part of NCJRS’s overview of the booklet is as follows: “The authors examined numerous studies from the U.S. Department of Justice, the American Legislative Exchange Council, and the Journal of Law and Economics, among others, and found that the studies indicate that failures to appear on unsecured releases were twice as high as those released on a surety bond. The studies also indicate that offenders with unsecured releases were more likely to commit crimes while released than those offenders released on a surety bond. Finally, the authors contend that studies show that high number of offenders on unsecured pretrial release lead to increased costs to local governments.” This description tells researchers that the booklet has the data to prove its case.
NCJRS resources are utilized by policymakers, educators, community leaders, and the general public. Therefore, the pool of key decision makers who will read a convincing case against pretrial release has increased exponentially. This is another step towards effecting change in the bail bond industry.
If you would like a copy of Taxpayer Funded Pretrial Release: A Failed System, please email [email protected].