HANDOUT

JSP Staff

Following an arrest, individuals must appear in court to hear the charges against them. In many sites, judges also make decision about pretrial release or pretrial detention at this hearing. In other sites, judge may make a release decision at the next hearing. If a judge agrees to release an individual, they may order the individual to pay cash bail for release, assign restrictive conditions (e.g., GPS monitoring, pretrial monitoring), or may allow the individual to secure their release on recognizance.

These early hearings where courts arraign individuals on charges and make pretrial release decisions are referred to as initial appearances.

Pretrial detention and restrictive pretrial release conditions disproportionately impact historically racialized Black and Brown individuals.

Enhancing fairness and reducing disparities at initial appearances requires (1) the presence of defense counsel and (2) defense counsel to present compelling information to the court to secure the least financially burdensome and least restrictive pretrial release possible.

This resource provides:

1. The importance of the presumption of the least restrictive pretrial release
2. The impact of defense counsel at initial appearance
3. The type of defense counsel practices increasing the likelihood of the least restrictive pretrial release possible, and
4. Sample questions defense counsel can use to gather information to support the least restrictive pretrial release possible