Tennessee is failing to provide pretrial services and relying on a cash-bond system that creates unfair, unsafe and unnecessary detention of poor and working-class people, a new, nationwide report says.
Though a few states have made great progress in the last few years reforming the cash-bond system or diverting non-violent people from jail, Tennessee has more work to do to ensure that people aren't getting stuck behind bars because they can't afford bail, according to the "State of Pretrial Justice Report" released earlier this week.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee didn't seem shocked by Tennessee's grade of F. Recently, some of Hamilton County's law enforcement officials suggested a number of reforms to reduce the local inmate population through improved services.
The report's authors at the Maryland-based Pretrial Justice Institute generated grades by measuring three broad metrics: The number of unconvicted people in jails, whether jurisdictions use assessments to determine if someone can make bond and whether a state has functionally eliminated "secured money bail." Tennessee and 16 other states received F's and another 13 received D's.
Only New Jersey received an A for implementing a new system this year that seeks to use cash bail as a last resort. So far, it's had a phenomenal impact by reducing the number of people awaiting trial in New Jersey jails to 15 percent in the first six months, the report says.
About 66 percent of people sitting in jails nationwide are awaiting trial, the report says, creating a two-tiered system based on wealth. Hamilton County's rates are lower, with 51 percent of the 1,409 inmates awaiting trial, according to statistics gathered Friday.
Still, that's a concerning statistic to those invested in equal justice.
"Tennessee's bail system's failing grade is, unfortunately, not surprising when thousands of people across our state remain in jail pretrial simply because they cannot afford to pay the price tag set on their freedom," said Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the Tennessee ACLU. "Often judges impose money bail without inquiring about the person's ability to pay or considering alternative, effective, non-financial conditions of release.
"This creates a two-tiered system of justice in our state where poor and working-class people remain behind bars while the wealthy walk free."
Sheriff Jim Hammond announced last month he will research alternatives to the cash-bond industry, invest in programs that divert people with non-violent mental health episodes away from jail and outfit low-risk people with ankle monitors instead of keeping them behind bars.
Hammond said Wednesday he's been reading up on states that eliminated cash bonds and is interested in introducing legislation that reduces a lengthy, three-hour booking process for people with minor charges. The idea is to keep the "worst of the worst" behind bars and save taxpayer dollars by releasing non-violent people on cheaper programs.
"If you get charged for shoplifting, you've got to be booked, and it's a three-hour process and you're in there with the worst of the worst," Hammond said Wednesday. "We're experimenting with not making them come to jail, but to an office outside the jail. But they have to be people with short records. I don't want them booked until after their hearing that's a piece of legislation I'm going to bring up this legislative session."
Bond is designed to ensure a defendant's appearance in court, and the amount levied increases based on the severity of the crime. When defendants are first charged with a crime, they visit a magistrate and have a short hearing to determine that officers had probable cause to make the arrest. Unless someone is a known flight risk or facing capital punishment, they're entitled to a reasonable bond.
There are some caveats: People who violate probation often are given "no bond" status off the bat until they have a hearing days later, a local defense attorney argued earlier this year. Someone's prior arrests often factor into a magistrate's decision. And people charged with the same crime can have different bond amounts based on the facts.
Defense attorney Robin Flores said he hasn't represented many people who skipped town after making a reasonable bail or getting a bond reduction.
"I can only think not even of a handful of times where I've had clients not show up," Flores said. "Federal courts have what used to be federal pretrial release service, where it's almost as if you're on probation. You gotta report, check in, they monitor you. They don't have that in the state system. You have a bonding company that protects the bond. So a bonding company is an extension of the jail and the sheriff."
The Pretrial Justice Institute advocates for safety and fairness in juvenile and adult pretrial justice practices.
Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow him on Twitter @zackpeterson918.