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Bail Reform Act - 1981-82 - Hearings Before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administration of Justice, July 29, 30, September 16 1981 and February 25, 1982

NCJ Number
92556
Date Published
1983
Length
225 pages
Annotation
Hearings on the Bail Reform Act of 1966 focused on the need to amend it because abuses of the money-bail requirements still take place, defendants who present little risk of flight are still incarcerated, and the Act does not ensure pretrial incarceration of truly dangerous, crime-prone defendants.
Abstract
Congressmen William J. Hughes and Harold S. Sawyer testified on the need for bills such as H.R. 4264 and 4362 to establish a preventive detention procedure for use in Federal courts. Charles Ruff, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, described the success of the present District of Columbia preventive detention program. Judge Gerald Tjoflat resisted the establishment of a preventive detention system, citing both constitutional and policy objections. Also rejecting preventive detention was Yale Law School professor Daniel Freed. Congressman James Sensenbrenner presented H.R. 3006 which would permit the judicial officer to consider danger to the community as a factor in setting release conditions in a noncapital case and to authorize revocation of pretrial release for persons who violate their release condition, intimidate witnesses or jurors, or commit new offenses. Additional witnesses represented the American Bar Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Department of Justice, among others. Text of the bills and statements to the committee are appended.