Unnecessary Incarceration
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Date
2020-07-01
Authors
Makar, Zina
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon School of Law
Abstract
Every pretrial detainee is presumed innocent. Despite this presumption, an individual accused of a crime may be detained prior to trial. If the accused is subsequently acquitted or the charges against her are dropped during her pretrial detention, then she has no recourse against the government for the time and liberty of which she was deprived. Without any hard consequences for unnecessarily incarcerating the accused, our criminal legal system operates without any meaningful checks at the pretrial stage. One potentially powerful check would be monetary pretrial compensation. Unfortunately, pretrial compensation for unnecessary incarceration has not gained much traction in the United States for a number of deeply ingrained institutional reasons. This Article critically analyzes those reasons and sets forth a path forward to make pretrial compensation a reality.
Description
64 pages
Keywords
Criminal law, Incarceration, Prisons
Citation
98 Or. L. Rev. 607