Judicial decision-making in the era of pretrial reform

ABSTRACT

Decisions at the pretrial stage have been shown to affect later case processing decisions, increasing the risk of incarceration to prison and resulting in longer sentences. Traditionally, pretrial decisions relied heavily on judicial discretion. Pretrial reforms have increasingly diverted and diversified the decision-making process. In light of these changes, this article synthesizes prior research on judicial decision-making and examines how judicial decision-making has been influenced by reform efforts. We examine the role of legal variables, defendant characteristics, psychological variables, and organizational influences on judicial decision-making in the absence of reforms. We then discuss how pretrial reform efforts have sought to curtail judicial discretion in pretrial decision-making through various mechanisms. Finally, this article considers the implications of this evolution in pretrial decision-making for future research, policy, and practice.

KEYWORDS:

• judicial decision-making
• pretrial decisions
• pretrial reform
• judges

Acknowledgement

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of the University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 For a more comprehensive review on judicial decision-making in sentencing contexts, see, among others, Albonetti, 1991; Bushway & Piehl, 2001; Davis, 2000; Epstein et al., 2017; Fischman & Schanzenbach, 2012, Kim, 2007; Klein, 2005; Mallett, 2015; Slobogin, 2019; Spindle, 1947; and Yang, 2015.