In How Did the 'Worst of the Worst" Become 3 Out of 4?, a New York Times Opinion makes a strong case for how Attorney General Merrick Garland can bring bail reform to the federal justice system. The oped is written by Alison Siegler, a former assistant federal defender and now founder and director of the Federal Criminal Justice Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School, and Kate Harris, a 3L at the clinic. They observe, "while the progressive-prosecutor movement has gained momentum at the state and county levels, it hasn't gotten any traction in the federal system." The authors call on Garland "to change this by disrupting the culture of detention that pervades the ranks of federal prosecutors and, to some degree, the federal judiciary." Among other things,
Mr. Garland can act on Day 1 by directing his federal prosecutors to use their considerable power to limit jailing to those federal cases where it is truly necessary. He can institute changes to the Department of Justice’s pretrial detention policy that mirror the recommendations made by the Judicial Conference.
It’s as simple as directing his prosecutors to stop relying on the presumption of detention. Instead, Mr. Garland can instruct his prosecutors to request pretrial jailing only when objective indicators demonstrate that there is a high risk that the person will fail to return to court or poses a genuine danger. He can also direct his prosecutors to stop asking judges to impose financial conditions of release that let affluent people buy their freedom while requiring poor people to rely on bail bonds. After all, the federal bail law was supposed to ensure that the “scales of justice” are not “weighted with money.” By freeing low-level drug offenders from the presumption’s unforgiving grip and alleviating wealth-driven disparities, Mr. Garland can bring prosecutorial practices back in line with the spirit of the law , they take aim at eliminating For example, the article takes aim Mr. Garland will be able to change this by disrupting the culture of detention that pervades the ranks of federal prosecutors and, to some degree, the federal judiciary."
The Training Divsion provides training and resources on bail and pretrial release here. Space is still available for Professor Siegler's live webinar Fundamentals of Federal Criminal Defense - Breaking Out of the Cage: Bail Reform Act Fundamentals on February 25, 2021 at 3:30 (EST). You may register here.