Is There a (Pre)Trial Penalty? Assessing the Joint Impacts of Pretrial Detention and Trial Conviction on Sentencing

This study examines the joint sentencing penalty experienced by defendants detained pretrial and convicted via jury trial. The focal concerns and cumulative disadvantage frameworks suggest these defendants are sentenced most severely because early case decisions make them appear especially culpable, dangerous, and irredeemable during later case decisions. We use propensity-score regression analyses to test this hypothesis, analyzing data on defendants processed in urban jurisdictions over two decades. Findings provide evidence of a (pre)trial penalty. Detained defendants convicted via jury trials have the highest probability of being sentenced to prison and are sentenced to the longest prison and jail terms, net of numerous controls. Moreover, detained defendants’ guilty plea discounts are generally similar in magnitude to released defendants’ trial penalties.