In recent years, almost all of the growth in jail populations has been driven by people being detained before a trial. Nationally, people serving pretrial detention make up about two-thirds of those in jail.

That’s why Greater Cleveland Congregations (GCC) is calling for a more just system to reduce the number of people held in jail before trial – one that doesn’t disproportionately affect Black and brown people, poor people or people dealing with mental illness or substance abuse.

Hundreds of people packed the pews of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church Tuesday night to learn about what pretrial detention looks like in Cuyahoga County compared to national best practices that reduce pretrial detention while also keeping communities safe. 

‘Different individuals will need different supports’

Jessica Ireland, senior manager at The Center for Effective Public Policy, shed light on some of the problems with jailing people waiting for trial and shared some proven methods that have led to more fair pretrial systems. 

Almost everywhere she’s worked, pretrial jail populations are mostly made up of people with low-level offenses and people charged with failure to appear. Studies have shown pretrial detention doesn’t prevent people from committing a new offense. 

In fact, there is evidence that pretrial detention leads to a higher likelihood of arrest for a new crime before the outcome of the original case is decided, Ireland said.

When a person is released back into the community, doing his or her job and taking care of their family, that person is more likely to stay on the right side of the law. 

Judges can make more informed decisions on releasing a person until their trial if they have access to pretrial service programs.

Another way to reduce pretrial detention is by using actuarial assessment tools. Those are assessments that are statistically proven to predict whether a person will appear in court and whether that person is likely to re-offend while released. 

“They predict more accurately than human decision-making alone,” Ireland said, adding that “assessment tools do not appear to exacerbate existing racial disparities.”

Supportive services that are voluntary and individualized to meet the needs of each person help people succeed while they’re released and awaiting trial. 

Pretrial support service agencies that were once focused on monitoring and enforcing compliance with court-ordered conditions are now focusing more on assistance and support. Services can include housing, transportation, childcare and service referrals. 

“If the goal in the pretrial phase is to appear in court and not be rearrested, it’s important to realize that different individuals will need different supports to reach that goal,” Ireland said.

‘We needed to do something’

Judge Michelle D. Earley, Cleveland Municipal Court administrative and presiding judge, detailed changes the court has made to reduce the jail population. 

The court judges agreed that they needed to address the number of people being held before trial, “not because they were dangerous, not because they were high risk, but because they were poor,” Earley said. 

Once the judges agreed on the “why,” they worked with court administrators to start using risk assessments and public safety assessments. The court created a pretrial services department providing GPS monitoring supervision for those who are released and setting up text reminders for court dates. 

“We really believe in this program,” Earley said. “Again, can we tweak it and make it better? Absolutely. But you know, for us it was, we needed to do something.”

‘A series of tweaks’ 

Rachel Dissell, Signal Cleveland’s community and special projects editor and a contributing editor at The Marshall Project, talked about what she’s seen in Cuyahoga County as she and a team of journalists reported on bail decisions and practices. 

There’s some good news, Dissell said: The county’s court system has drastically cut its use of cash bail. But those changes were informal, rather than more permanent changes to state laws, formal court rules or an overhaul of the county’s pretrial services. 

“The changes that have happened, they’re not systemic, they’re not concrete, and they’re not yet consistent,” Dissell said. 

In Cuyahoga County, judges still have a lot of discretion when it comes to setting cash bail. 

“What that means is that justice is not equal,” Dissell said. 

She said people should be asking why the changes that were made were “more like a series of tweaks” rather than permanent changes. 

Next steps

Greater Cleveland Congregations will host another event to talk about pretrial detention on June 18. 

Rev. Jawanza Colvin with Olivet Institutional Baptist Church urged GCC members to continue to learn about pretrial detention practices, challenge policymakers to do better and imagine a more just pretrial detention system for Cuyahoga County. 

“In another time and another place, this could be you or a member of your family,” Colvin said.  “And you would only hope that there was some citizens from across this county of different races, religions, social and economic backgrounds, banding together speaking on your behalf, raising their voices for no other reason but because it is right.”