We measure the economic costs of the US pretrial system using several complementary approaches and data sources. The pretrial system operates as one of the earliest points of entry in the criminal justice system. It typically represents an individual’s first opportunity to be incarcerated, potentially leading to subsequent long-term damage in the form of family separation, work interruption, loss of housing, and so on. We find that individuals lose almost $30,000 in forgone earnings and social benefits when detained in jail while awaiting the resolution of their criminal cases. These adverse consequences are also present in aggregate measures of economic well-being, with increases in county pretrial detention rates associated with increases in poverty rates and decreases in employment rates. Counties with high levels of pretrial detention also exhibit significantly lower levels of intergenerational mobility among children, consistent with pretrial detention having an adverse impact on young children who may be the dependents of individuals affected by the pretrial system.

我们使用几种互补的方法和数据源来衡量美国审前制度的经济成本。审前制度是刑事司法制度最早的切入点之一。它通常代表一个人第一次被监禁的机会，可能会导致家庭分离、工作中断、失去住房等形式的后续长期损害。我们发现，在等待刑事案件解决期间被拘留在监狱中的个人损失了近 30,000 美元的收入和社会福利。这些不利后果也存在于经济福利的总体衡量标准中，县审前拘留率的增加与贫困率的增加和就业率的下降有关。