Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Social Costs of Pretrial Electronic Monitoring in San Francisco

52 Pages Posted: 21 Sep 2022

See all articles by Sandra Susan Smith

Sandra Susan Smith

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

Cierra Robson

Harvard University

Date Written: September 2022

Abstract

In the year following Humphrey, a judicial decision mandating that judges consider both defendants’ ability to pay cash bail and non-monetary release options, San Francisco Sheriff’s Office (SFSO) reported a 308% increase in the number of people court-ordered for pretrial electronic monitoring (EM) – from 178 to 725. Although proponents of pretrial EM have described it as an effective alternative to pretrial incarceration – one that ensures public safety and court appearances – critics contend that it is simply an alternative form of incarceration, with many of jail’s attendant harms. With this debate in mind, we explore people’s recent experiences on pretrial EM in San Francisco – the extent and nature of difficulties program participants face while attempting to meet program obligations, the extent to which and how these difficulties put them at risk for noncompliance, and how threats of noncompliance interact with other major issues that system-involved people face to affect program outcomes.

Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a convenience sample of 66 people court-ordered to participate in pretrial EM between 2018 and 2020, we find that prior struggles, especially with housing insecurity and co-occurring disorders, made it much more difficult to meet program obligations, amplifying risks of noncompliance. Further, conditions of pretrial EM release also created hardships for many, making it even more difficult to find safe, affordable, and stable housing; to protect health and well-being; to secure employment and keep jobs; and to maintain physical, emotional, and psychological connections to loved ones. Indeed, pretrial EM often placed program participants in the untenable position of constantly having to choose between two or more equally awful options, such as program compliance or maintaining employment. These findings have major implications for debates about pretrial EM’s net-widening effects but also the inherent stickiness of the criminal legal system.

Suggested Citation

Smith, Sandra Susan and Robson, Cierra, Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Social Costs of Pretrial Electronic Monitoring in San Francisco (September 2022). HKS Working Paper No. RWP22-014, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4221419 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4221419

Sandra Susan Smith (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) ( email )

79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Cierra Robson

Harvard University ( email )

1875 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
84
Abstract Views
518
Rank
608,687
PlumX Metrics