Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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The Federal0etention Crisis: Causes and Effects ...... 'Ol\rf$' ......... . Daniel B. Ryan
'., ~C@lH9ITI
.,. , Pretrial Services Federal~Style: Four Fmmcn~~ri~s .•.• ! •••••••••••••••• John U~ Byrd
.' .... - ,. Thomas A. Henry
~ Marion Gutmann
George F. Moriarty, Jr.
MARCH 1993
144493-
U.S. Department of Justice 144500
National Institute of Justice
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'II
Federal Probation A JOURNAL OF CORRECTIONAL PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE
Published by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts
alleviating crime, the Honorable Vincent L. Broder- Technology and Pretrial Services ........ Timothy P. Cadigan 48
ick, U.S. district judge, Southern District of New The Federal Detention Crisis: [j..rres
York, points out the folly in downplaying community and Effects .......... .I.....~.~ ...... Daniel B. Ryan 54
corrections, fostering more prison construction, Pretrial Services Federal·Style: Four
mandating longer prison terms, and enhancing the Commentaries ..........................John W. Byrd
Thomas A. Henry
role of the criminal prosecutor while denigrating the Marion Gutmann
role of the judiciary. In his article, ''Pretrial Deten- George F. Moriarty, Jr. 64
tion in the Criminal Justice Process," he focuses Departments
on accelerating detention rates as a prime example
of "one troublesome manifestation of the Draconian News of the Future ...................•............... 70
approach." Looking at the Law ................................... 74
Reviews of Professional Periodicals ...................... 80
What can bail bondsmen do for defendants that Your Bookshelf on Review .............................. 84
the courts cannot? Absolutely nothing, contends the It HilS Come to Our Attention .......................... 88
Congress responded to this need by legislatively where they are made outside the reach of public scru-
encouraging the development of pretrial services. Pre- tiny. The threat of harsh mandatory minimum sen-
trial services-whether as an independent office or as tences certainly increases the likelihood of flight and
an adjunct of the probation office-has been charged in many cases makes a pretrial release decision, even
with the dual functions of 1) providing judges and with provision for supervision, less likely. Where a
magistrate judges making release/detention decisions prosecutor avoids the impact of a statute with a man-
with reliable information upon which those decisions datory minimum by charging a different or lesser
can be grounded and 2) supervising, where required, crime the threat will be avoided. But in many situ-
pretrial releasees. One would have expected that the ations a defendant will be charged with committing a
confluence of the information developed by pretrial crime with mandatory minimum prescribed, although
services and the supervision provided by pretrial serv- the prosecutor hopes to elicit the cooperation of the
ices officers would have reduced the relative numbers defendant and intends, if the cooperation is forthcom-
of defendants who were detained pretrial. ing, to submit to the sentencing judge a letter pursu-
It has not worked out that way. The scale of pretrial ant to 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e) which would empower the
detention appears to be accelerating at all levels ofthe judge to sentence below the mandatory minimum. In
criminal justice system, state and Federal, straining such a situation the judge, in making the pretrial
available resources. The proportion of Federal defen- release-or-detain decision, must deal with the charge
dants who are detained prior to trial has fairly steadily at hand. If he assesses the mandatory minimum as
increased since the advent of pretrial services. The making flight a probable risk he will detain, and the
current Federal pretrial detainee population is ap- detention itself becomes part of the pressure on the
proximately 18,000. It has more than doubled since defendant to cooperate.
1988. Pretrial detention can be crucial when a defendant
There are probably various causes for this increase. is likely to flee and will protect the community when
There has been a marked change in the mix of cases a defendant is likely to cause harm to victims, wit-
which pass through the Federal criminal justke sys- nesses, or others during the period prior to trial.
tem, with an increasing emphasis upon crimes involv- Justifiable stress upon the hazards of indiscriminate
ing the importation and distribution of illegal drugs. release of dangerous defendants because of budgetary,
Many of those charged with committing these illegal space, and similar considerations-or because the de-
drug crimes, facing long prison terms if convicted, are fendant involved can post a monetary amount-must
unable to establish that they are unlikely to flee if not, however, obscure the important problems caused
released. And many judges and magistrates, myself by pretrial detention when overused. We must recog-
included, scrutinize such defendants extremely care- nize both the necessity for pretrial detention in some
fully, regarding any substantial indications that they cases and the need to confine it to those situations
may continue drug distribution while on pretrial re- which require it.
lease as constituting threats to the community which Pretrial detention can create-and in many circum-
warrant detention. stances has created-<!rises of mammoth proportions,
The advent of the sentencing guidelines has perhaps creating problems for every element of the criminal
been a factor. For many crimes the guidelines have justice system: those charged with crime; defense
ruled out probation as a probable, or possible, disposi- counsel; pretrial services and probation officers;
tion, and the relative certainty of a prison sentence for judges; prosecutors; marshals; and the Bureau of Pris-
defendants charged with such crimes may be con- ons.
strued in certain circumstances as increasing the risk A microcosm of such crises and problems surfaced in
of flight. the New York metropolitan area in 1991. Affected was
But it is probable that the greatest single cause of the administration of criminal justice in the Eastern
the increase in pretrial detention has been the flood of and Southern Districts of New York and in New Jersey,
mandatory minimum sentences which Congress has and shock waves were felt as far away as Tennessee
prescribed. This is not the place to inveigh against and the Southern District of Texas.
such statutorily mandated minimum sentences. Suf- In the fall of 1991 Leonard F. Joy, chief of the Federal
fice it to say that they are inconsistent with a rational Defenders Services Unit in the Southern and Eastern
guidelines sentencing system; that they prevent Districts of New York, sounded the alarm. In a letter
judges in many cases from imposing sentences which to Chief .J udge J-mnes L. Oakes of the Second Circuit
fit both the crimes and the criminals; and that as a he delineated various situations which adversely af-
practical matter they transfer the making of key sen- fected the ability :::f Federal defenders adequately to
tencing decisions from the courtroom where they are represent clients in pretrial or presentence custody.
made by experienced judges to prosecutors' offices While the thrust of Mr. Joy's letter was to emphasize
6 FEDERAL PROBATION March 1993
the impact of these situations upon Federal defenders clients to be in touch with their attorneys. Mail contact
and their clients, he pointed out that they had parallel is difficult: the defendants have often been moved by
impact upon the ability of Criminal Justice Act counsel the time mail reaches a location which has been iden-
and privately retained cOQ.l1sel effectively to represent tified. Where the defendant has pleaded guilty and
detained clients. I would note parenthetically that awaits sentence, a transfer is occasioned and is ef-
since the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Man- fected before the presentence interview, and !n the era
hattan (MCC) also services the District of New Jersey, of guideline sentencing the defense attorney is unwill-
the crises identified by Mr. Joy had corresponding ing to consent to an uncounseled interview. When
impact on attorney-client relations in that district. defendants are moved their court clothes and legal
Mr. Joy outlined six major areas of concern. There papers are often left behind.
was some overlap between these areas, but each high- Mr. Joy pointed out that even where the pretrial
lighted "the problems entailed in adequately repre- defendants were moved no further than Otisville,
senting clients in extremely difficult circumstances": there were problems. Interview facilities in Otisville
1) housing of defendants outside the districts in which were inadequate; attorneys (and interpreters, where
they faced charges; 2) continual movement of pretrial necessary) would make the 100-mile trip to Otisville
defendants between the MeC and the closest Federal only to find that the detainees ht'.d been moved. If,
Correctional Institution (FCI) at Otisville, some 100 between arraignment and detention hearings, detain-
miles away; 3) housing of defendants between arraign- ees were housed in county facilities because of over-
ment and detention hearings in inadequate (and un- crowding in the MCC it was difficult to locate them.
identified) state facilities; 4) the inability of counsel to The overcrowded conditions and the continual shifting
locate their detained clients; 5) the inadequacy of the of defendants had caused, according to Mr. Joy, a
arrangements for attorney-client contact at the FCI breakdown in a formerly workable inmate locator sys-
(Otisvllle) where many detained defendants were tem: there was "no record" or the defendant was "in
housed; 6) the occasional inhumaneness of the treat- transit," etc.
ment of pretrial detainees who were billeted in state ,Leonard Joy's letter to Judge Oakes brought no new
facilities. information to those of us involved in the criminal
Mr. Joy noted that at any given time his office justice process in the New York metropolitan area. We
represented 200-250 detained defendants in pretrial all had struggled for some t.ime with the pressures
or presentence custody, some 10 percent of whom were which increases in pretrial and presentence detention
housed in facilities-Federal or contract-outside the had brought. The warden of the MCC had, in fact, held
Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. As of the meetings with a Criminal Advisory Board, composed
time he wrote several of these defendants were being of representatives of the various components of the
held in a county facility in Texas; three were in Ten- criminal justice process-judges, defense counsel,
nessee. One defendant his office represented was ar- prosecutors, pretrial services, probation, marshals,
rested in the Southern District of New York on August and Bureau of Prisons-to attempt to develop effective
12, 1991, and made his first appearance before the approaches to relieve those pressures, but the pres-
assigned district judge on November 13, 1991. In the sures continued. Leonard Joy's letter did, however,
interim he had spent some time sequentially at the prompt immediate action. Judge Oakes challenged the
MCC in New York, at the FCI at Otisville, in the county Department of Justice (which controlled three of the
facility in Texas, and in El Reno, Oklahoma, before components (the prosecutors, the marshals, and the
being returned to the New York MCe for his court Bureau of Prisons) to face up to the detention crisis in
appearance. the New York metropolitan area. The Department of
Justice responded, acknowledging the seriousness of
Mr. Joy reported an inquiry that he had which the situation and setting forth the steps it was taking
illumined the problem, and his response: to attempt to ameliorate it.
Recently we had a call from a U.S. Magistrate Judge's clerk from The response from the Department of Justice made
Laredo, Texas wondering why a Southern District detainee was it clear that it was the increase in pretrial and presen-
filing a pro se habeas petition in Webb County, Texas. He was
jnformed thut several pretrial detainees from New York were tence detention that was at the core of the crisis:
being kept in Texas. He told us that the Judge does not under- The United States Marshals Service's prisoner population in the
stand this. We told him that we do not understand it either. entire northeast continues to expand rapidly exceeding all avail-
able contract and Federal detention spac~. The New York Metro-
Mr. Joy ticked off the difficulties caused by the politan Correctional Center's (MCC) current population of over
frequent movement of pretrial and presentenced de- 900 (up from BlB last year) far exceeds its rated capacity of 466.
fendants who are detained. Their attorneys cannot In order to keep the overcrowded MCC available for new arres·
tees, a Federal bedspace allocation plan including special weekly
contact them because they dl) not know where they airlifts of sentenced but undesignated prisoners to such remote
are. Language problems make it difficult for many locations as Texas and Tennessee was recently implemented. 3
PRETRIAL DETENTION 7
Acting Deputy Attorney General George J. Terwil- aware of the problems faced by those in other compo-
liger III assured Judge Oakes that the Department nents and by pretrial and presentence detainees. It
would devote all efforts to attempt to solve the prob- has made it possible to bring to bear a collective
lem. He outlined specific steps that were being taken: wisdom in dealing with these problems. It is an ap-
1) negotiations with local authorities for assistance proach which we intend to continue so long as the
in housing Federal detainees; pretrial-presentence detention crisis continues.
But it will not solve the pretrial and presentence
2) weekly removal of sentenced but undesignated
detention crisis. We detain people today who need not
prisoners to other geographic locations;
be detained-people who pose neither the threat of
3) removal of convicted but unsentenced defen- flight nor threats to the community. Until we develop
dants to other geographic locations after presen- a more rational approach to the question of pretrial
tence information had been gathered (to be detention and to a lesser extent to that of presentence
returned 1 week prior to sentencing); detention, the crisis will continue.
Unfavorable consequences arise from overuse of
4) working with U.S. attorneys "by prioritizing
pretrial detention, among them the following (by no
cases to be housed at the MCC and in FCI Otis-
means an exhaustive list):
ville, expeditiously closing writ cases, using al-
ternatives to detention in appropriate cases, and 1) Defendants are detained who are never ulti-
minimizing both the number and duration of stay mately convicted. 6
for prisoner witnesses.1>'I 2) Defendants who are incarcerated cannot as ef-
fectively assist their counsel in preparing for trial or
Mr. Terwilliger stated that if relief was not produced plea.
by these steps, pretrial detainees who had completed 3) Where supervision in the comml.mity is feasible,
initial hearings and were awaiting trial would be the detention of nonviolent defendants who pose
removed from the area, to be returned at least a week risks neither of flight nor of danger to the commu-
prior to subsequent hearings and 3 weeks prior to trial. nity may tend to injure rather than to protect soci-
The Marshals Service was to arrange telephone and ety, since possible rehabilitation of the detainees is
fax capabilities for these detainees and their attor- foregone.
neys.5
4) Large numbers of pretrial detainees strain the
It was helpful, of course, to have attracted the atten-
capacity of detention facilities.
tion of the Department of Justice to the crisis and its
dimensions. 5) Defense attorneys often find it difficult or imprac-
One further step was taken. The judges of the Dis- ticable to travel to detention facilities, to connect with
trict of New Jersey and of the Southern and Eastern shuttled clients, or to meet confidently with clients in
Districts of New York took over the administration of detention facilities without fear of eavesdropping.
the Criminal Advisory Board meetings which had for- 6) Transferring pretrial detainees between distant
merly been held at the call of the warden of MCC, detention facilities and the courthouses strains the
resulting in decided improvement in attendance at facilities of the Marshals Service. Prisoners must be
these meetings. shuttled back and forth at great expense and increased
The Criminal Advisory Board meetings are held risk of escape. The high cost of pretrial detention,
three to four times a year. They have been marked by including security protection and transportation, re-
a high spirit of cooperation between the various or- duces the funds which might otherwise be available for
ganizations represented. And they have performed an more productive criminal justice efforts.
extremely useful educational function. Thus, 3S a :["e- 7) When lockdowns or headcounts occur in deten-
suIt of these meetings the Bureau of Prisons has made tion facilities courts must without advance notice
yeoman efforts to adjust its procedures to accommo- readjust their often-crowded calendars.
date defense counsel requiring access to their clients; We must never flinch from pretrial detention in
impetus has been given to the development of addi- situations which call for it-where there are foresee-
tional detention sites within striking distance of the able risks of flight or of danger to members of the
courthouses; and it has been possible to surface, &.nd community. But we should not overuse it. Today we
then dil'ect attention to, particular problems which are detaining pretrial many people who will not flee
arise when detainees have been housed in less-than- and are not dangerous. Doing this creates a myriad
adequate local facilities. of problems: it flies in the face of justice. It is time for
The Criminal Advisory Board approach has, in those who are actively involved in and truly commit-
short, been invaluable in ensuring that those in the ted to the criminal justice process to make our voices
various components of the criminal justice process are heard.
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8 FEDERAL PROBATION March 1993