Pretrial release and social contexts: Is there a link? (Does the effect of race on pretrial release decisions vary across county?)

Researchers investigating the relationship between the defendant's race and pretrial release decisions have not produced consistent findings. This inconsistency in findings on racial discrimination in pretrial release practices suggests that previous studies have important limitations. One significant limitation is that previous studies typically overlook important regional differences in the administration of pretrial release practices that may contribute to racial disparity. The current research may overcome this previous research limitation and focused on how relations between race and pretrial release decisions vary with different social contextual environments. The primary research question is, to what extents do race and contextual factors influence pretrial release decisions and outcome? Further, we are interested in determining whether race differences are conditioned by the characteristics of where those decisions occur.;By adopting Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) and Hierarchical generalized linear model (HGLM) with a sample of 14,835 cases, this study found that black and Hispanic defendants are significantly more likely to be detained than white defendants in pretrial release outcome. It would appear that the racial disparity found in pretrial detention is more a function of class than of racial discrimination. This study also demonstrates the importance of the jurisdiction in pretrial release process. Especially, even after controlling for characteristics of the offender and case, the odds of other release options, financial release options, and detention and the mean bail amount vary across counties characteristics. The main effects were more pervasive as significant predictors of pretrial release severity. However, this study also found that the effect of race on pretrial release varied by various social characteristics as a cross level interaction.