Honored that our 2023 Criminology & Public Policy article, Understanding racial disparities in pretrial detention recommendations, was a finalist for ASC’s 2025 Joan Petersilia Outstanding Article Award.  

About the paper: 
· In federal pretrial cases (n=149,816), officers’ detention recommendations were 34% higher for Black vs. White defendants.  
· Disparities were most pronounced in “gray area” cases with greater discretion. 
· Up to 79% of the disparity operated through institutional/policy factors more than through individual prejudice.  

Why it matters: Fair rules make fairer decisions. Because much of the gap comes from how past records are counted, updating those rules can help close it. 

Authors: Jennifer Skeem, Lina Montoya, Christopher Lowenkamp 

Read the article here: