NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ATTORNEYS GENERAL

ANNUAL MEETING

June 24-27, 1981
'Jackson Hole, Wyoming

RESOLUTION

BAIL REFORM

WHEREAS, most federal, state, and local decisions regarding bail are based solely on the likelihood that the defendant will return to court for his next scheduled appearance; and

WHEREAS, the rate of recidivism for individuals released on bail for serious crimes is extremely high; and

WHEREAS, citizens have the right to expect that their safety will be a factor considered prior to the time that bail is granted for a defendant accused of a violent crime;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Association of Attorneys General recommends that the United States Congress institute changes in federal bail practices to require that judges consider the danger that the offender poses to society in addition to other factors; and

that:

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the National Association of Attorneys General

1.

2.

the Association supports S. 1253 and H.R. 3883, relating to denial of
bail for narcotics offenders, as an example of the proper reform of
bail procedures in the area of narcotics abuse and control; and

the General Counsel of this Association is authorized to make these
views know to the Congress, the Administration, and other
appropriate individuals.

89-649 0-82--5

I wanted to take this chance to thank you again for giving me
the opportunity to testify at your Subcommittee's hearings on
bail reform. As I stated at the hearings, I stand ready to
work with the Committee in any way I can to help move bail
reform proposals forward.

I recently received a report from the Administrative Office
of the United States Courts which focused on the problem of
pretrial release in narcotics prosecutions in the U.S. Courts
for the Southern District of Florida. The report was prepared
for Congress William Hughes, the Chairman of the House Judiciary
Subcommittee on Crime. Its findings underscore the special
problems involved in bail determinations for persons charged with
drug trafficking offenses. Over 50 percent of the defendants in
the Southern District of Florida are drug offenders. Of those
who were released on bail pending trial, 17.6 percent failed to
appear; the average amount of bail set for those who failed to
appear was $75,800.

My bail reform proposal (S. 1253) would help close this revolving
door situation by denying bail to drug dealers in many instances.
I would hope that this report would assist you and the other
members of the Subcommittee in addressing the special problem of
bail for drug violators.

I would like to request that you add this study to the Committee's hearing record, as an appendix to my statement. If I can be of any further assistance, please feel free to contact me or Brian Walsh of my staff.

With kind regards, I am

Sincerely,

Lanta

LAWTON CHILES

LC/xvs

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Failure to appear and defendants charged with drug offenses in the Southern District of Florida.

PREPARED BY

THE PRETRIAL SERVICES BRANCH

The Pretrial Services Branch, in response to a request made by Congressman William J. Hughes, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Crime, conducted a study which examined the nature of the fugitive and failure to appear problem regarding defendants charged with drug offenses in the Southern District of Florida.

The major findings of that study reveals that even though "drug defendants" in the Southern District of Florida have financial conditions of release set more often and at much higher amounts than in the 10 PSA districts they fail to appear eight (8) times as often as those in the demonstration di tricts.

The reasons for this cannot be stated with any certainty, however, it is worth noting that defendants who were charged with drug offenses and failed to appear had extremely poor roots in the community in which they were arrested.

1.

While the number of criminal filings in the federal courts
declined approximately 10% from July 1, 1978 through June 30, 1980,
the number of cases increased by 10% in FL/S.

2. During the same time period the number of defendants prosecuted
in the federal courts declined 10% but the number increased
15% in FL/S.

3.

4.

5.

6.

For the same time period overall federal drug prosecutions
declined while they increased 30% in FL/S.

Less than one in five of all defendants prosecuted nationally
were charged with drug offenses while almost one half the
defendants in FL/S were so charged.

For the time period July 1, 1978-June 30, 1980 the failure to appear rate in FL/S was 12.9%. In the 10 PSA districts it was 2.3%.

The failure to appear rate for "drug defendants" was 17% in
FL/S. During the same period it was 2% in the PSA districts.

7. Ninety-two percent (92%) of all defendants in FL/S were released prior to trial. In the 10 PSA districts the rate was 88%.

8. Eighty-five percent of the defendants who were charged with drug offenses and failed to appear in the FL/S had lived in the district for less than one month at the time they were charged. This rate was only 10% in the 10 PSA districts.

9.

10.

U.S. citizens made up 45.4% of the defendants prosecuted in
FL/S. In the 10 PSA districts they accounted for 92% of the

total.

The overall failure to appear rates in the FL/S were much higher than in the 10 PSA districts despite the fact that money bail was set more often in FL/S (50% to 31%).

11.

12.

The failure to appear rate was approximately eight times greater
for "drug defendants" in the FL/S than the PSA districts even
though bail was set above $20,000 more than twice as often
(63%-29%) for those defendants in FL/S than in the PSA districts.

The average amount of bail set for "drug defendants" who failed to appear was $75,800.

REPORT ON THE INCIDENCE OF FAILURE TO APPEAR

BY DEFENDANTS CHARGED WITH DRUG CRIMES

IN THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

This report was prepared by the Pretrial Services Branch of the
Administrative Office of the United States' Courts at the request of
Congressman William J. Hughes, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime
of the House Committee on the Judiciary. In a letter written
March 17, 1981, to Mr. William E. Foley, Director of the Administrative
Office of the United States Courts, Congressman Hughes asked that a
study be conducted which would examine the nature of the fugitive and
failure to appear problem regarding defendants charged with drug
offenses in the Southern District of Florida. It was specifically
requested that the analysis include:

An identification of the defendants who fail to appear for
trial after having met release conditions established at a bail
hearing and those who are classified as fugitives by other criteria
(such as by being the subjects of unexecuted arrest warrants, being
sought by law enforcement, etc.) The study should analyze the
fugitive problem by offense, conditions of release, previous con-
viction and arrest records of defendants, stage of the proceedings
at which flight occurs, nationality status and ties to the
community, and by other relevant factors. It should, of course,
compare flight cases with nonflight ones, for any knowledge
that may be contained in this information concerning the setting
of appropriate and successful release conditions. Cases in which

the release conditions were not met and the defendants remained
in pretrial detention should be similarly examined.

To assist in this study the Pretrial Services Branch selected
pretrial services officers with extensive experience in collecting
and coding bail data. The team was supervised and assisted by the
pretrial services specialist who has had primary responsibility for
compiling similar information provided to Congress on the 10 Pretrial
Services demonstration districts. These districts are: Southern
New York, Eastern New York, Eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, Northern
Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Western Missouri, Northern Georgia,
Northern Texas, and Central California. The officers' experience
enhances the accuracy of the data and the reliability of the findings
in this report.