Defense Counsel Pretrial Justice Orientation
A curated list of resources for defense counsel.
Introduction
Public defenders, legal aid, and other indigent defense counsel are often the lone voice advocating for people accused of crimes. Their job is to explain the process and decisions facing people accused of a crime and ensure that courts uphold constitutional rights and protections.
This list of APPR resources is curated to help defense professionals stay current as research and practice evolve, with scholarly articles for further learning. It can orient those who are new to defense practice or assist experienced practitioners keep up with evidence-based practices.
You can download all the resources below and a Word document of this page by clicking the button above. Add additional resources for your local pretrial system, such as pretrial performance measures, and relevant new pretrial research as it is published.
Pretrial Justice Orientation Resources
These resources provide an overview of the pretrial system and foundational legal principles of pretrial release and detention decisions. They include several research summaries about common pretrial practices. You are not expected to read everything at once. Instead, we hope you will take time to read the materials to become familiar with legal and evidence-based pretrial policies and practices.
APPR Roadmap for Pretrial Advancement
For public defenders and defense counsel, this document provides context for parts of the pretrial system you may not have considered before and suggests areas for deeper learning and exploration.
Key links
- APPR Roadmap for Pretrial Advancement External Link
Bail at the Founding and The Reconstruction of American Bail were published by historians using primary sources. Bipartisan Bail Reform: Three Pillars of Pretrial Justice references various histories written based on secondary sources (see pages 140-163).
Pretrial Legal Foundations
This series covers foundational legal principles, the benefits of early access to defense counsel, and helpful checklists for defense counsel to compare against current practices.
Key links
- Pretrial Release and Detention: Legal Principles External Link
- Counsel at First Appearance Practice Guide External Link
- Meaningful First Appearance Overview & Checklist External Link
- What Is a Pretrial Detention Hearing? External Link
Fundamentals of Bail provided the first complete list of pretrial legal foundations and their relevance to bail (pretrial release) and “no bail” (pretrial detention). Bipartisan Bail Reform: Three Pillars of Pretrial Justice analyzes major changes to the law since Fundamentals’ publication and explains those updates (see pages 135-136 and 163-194).
The Present Crisis in American Bail takes a deeper look into the legal principles of due process and equal protection.
Pretrial Research Summaries
Defense counsel should be familiar with the short- and long-term impacts of detention and other conditions of release on court appearance, community safety, case outcomes, and the lives of those they represent. APPR has developed summaries of the current research on some of the most common pretrial policies and practices.
Key links
- Court Date Notification Systems External Link
- Financial Conditions of Release External Link
- Pretrial Detention External Link
- Pretrial Drug Testing External Link
- Pretrial Location Monitoring External Link
- Pretrial Monitoring External Link
Pages 226-235 of Bipartisan Bail Reform: Three Pillars of Pretrial Justice contain a comprehensive review of the history of traditional conditions of release (and detention) and current research.
The Guide to Jail Population Review Programs helps pretrial systems create a program that identifies people detained in jail who can be safely released pending disposition of their case. This process can identify practices that create unnecessary, unintentional pretrial detention, especially for people who cannot afford their assigned money bond.
This 2014 National Institute of Corrections paper described how financial release conditions essentially meant judges abdicated their decision-making to money itself, making money a stakeholder with influence over jail populations, court dockets, county budgets, and community safety. However, America’s history of bail, pretrial legal foundations, research, and national standards support intentional decisions about pretrial release or detention unobstructed by secured money bond.
Pretrial Language Resources
The Pretrial Glossary can help ensure that system stakeholders share a common understanding of the words and terms used. The APPR Language Guide can help defense counsel adopt person-first, strength-based language, which research shows improves people’s compliance during the pretrial phase.
Key links
- Pretrial Glossary External Link
- APPR Language Guide External Link
Professional Standards
American Bar Association: Public Defense Caseload Standards
The National Public Defense Workload Study issued in 2023 is a comprehensive review and analysis to be used by public defense agencies, policymakers, and other stakeholders in evaluating defender workloads.
NAPSA Pretrial Standards Revised 2024
The National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies has issued professional standards for the pretrial release and diversion fields since 1978
Contact APPR
Contact APPR with questions for additional resources or ask the APPR Community for additional resources and ideas to assist with internal education of pretrial system stakeholders.
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