How pretrial detention time reinforces racial inequalities in the criminal justice system

Research has shown that detention before trials contributes to broader patterns of inequality in the criminal justice system. In new research, Brandon P. Martinez, Nick Petersen, and Marisa Omori look at how pretrial detention length contributes to this inequality. Their analysis of pretrial detention patterns in Miami-Dade County, Florida, finds that Black people are more likely to have higher bond amounts and spend longer in pretrial detention, and that spending longer in pretrial detention is linked with more severe sentences.