There is growing policy interest in prosecutors’ role in the criminal justice system. Prosecutors have tremendous discretion in whether to pursue charges against people accused of crimes and in what types of punishments to seek. What does the evidence say about how they should use that discretion? And have recent policy reforms targeting this stage of the process made communities safer? In this webinar series, we’ll hear about the latest research on this topic to help policymakers and practitioners figure out what works best as they strive to make criminal justice policy more fair and effective.

Responsible Prosecution – Session 1

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Emily Leslie, Brigham Young University

The Unintended Impact of Pretrial Detention on Case Outcomes: Evidence from New York City Arraignments

Jens Ludwig, University of Chicago

Human Decisions and Machine Predictions

Megan Stevenson, University of Virginia

Assessing Risk Assessment in Action

Cody Tuttle, University of Texas at Austin

Racial Disparities in Federal Sentencing: Evidence from Drug Mandatory Minimums

Allison Stashko, University of Utah

Prosecutor Elections and Police Accountability

Responsible Prosecution – Session 2

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Aurelie Ouss, University of Pennsylvania

Does Cash Bail Deter Misconduct?

Crystal Yang, Harvard University

The Effects of Pretrial Detention on Conviction, Future Crime, and Employment: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Judges

Alex Albright, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

No Money Bail, No Problems? Evidence from an Automatic Release Program

Viet Nguyen, University of Pennsylvania

The efficacy of prosecutor-led, adult diversion for misdemeanor offenses

Michael Muller-Smith, University of Michigan

Diversion in the Criminal Justice System

Responsible Prosecution – Panel 3

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Megan Stevenson, University of Virginia

Distortion of Justice: How the Inability to Pay Bail Affects Case Outcomes

Alex Albright, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

If You Give a Judge a Risk Score: Evidence from Kentucky Bail Decisions

Amanda Agan, Rutgers University

Misdemeanor Prosecution

Johanna Lacoe, California Policy Lab

The Impact of Felony Diversion in San Francisco

Alissa Skog, California Policy Lab

Can Restorative Justice Conferencing Reduce Recidivism? Evidence From the Make-it-Right Program

Responsible Prosecution – Panel 4

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Paul Heaton, University of Pennsylvania

The Downstream Consequences of Misdemeanor Pretrial Detention

Aurelie Ouss, University of Pennsylvania

Behavioral Nudges Reduce Failure to Appear for Court

Jennifer Doleac, Texas A&M University

Prosecutorial Reform and Local Crime Rates

Ashna Arora, University of Chicago

The Impact of Specialized Prosecution on the Safety of Domestic Violence Victims

Panka Bencsik, Vanderbilt University

Policing Substance Use: Chicago’s Treatment Program for Narcotics Arrests