The Effects of Pre-Trial Detention on Conviction, Future Crime, and Employment: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Judges

Will Dobbie, Jacob Goldin () and Crystal Yang ()

Working Papers from eSocialSciences

Abstract: Over 20 percent of prison and jail inmates in the United States are currently awaiting trial, but little is known about the impact of pre-trial detention on defendants. This paper uses the detention tendencies of quasi-randomly assigned bail judges to estimate the causal effects of pre-trial detention on subsequent defendant outcomes. Using data from administrative court and tax records, it finds that being detained before trial significantly increases the probability of a conviction, primarily through an increase in guilty pleas. Pre-trial detention has no detectable effect on future crime, but decreases pre-trial crime and failures to appear in court. It also finds suggestive evidence that pre-trial detention decreases formal sector employment and the receipt of employment- and tax-related government benefits. It argues that these results are consistent with (i) pre-trial detention weakening defendants' bargaining position during plea negotiations, and (ii) a criminal conviction lowering defendants' prospects in the formal labour market. [Working Paper 22511]

Keywords: Pre-Trial Detention; Conviction; Future Crime; Employment; United States; quasi-randomly assigned bail judges; formal sector employment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-08
Note: Institutional Papers
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Effects of Pretrial Detention on Conviction, Future Crime, and Employment: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Judges (2018)
Working Paper: The Effects of Pre-Trial Detention on Conviction, Future Crime, and Employment: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Judges (2016)
Working Paper: The Effects of Pre-Trial Detention on Conviction, Future Crime, and Employment: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Judges (2016)
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