On any given day, 60 percent of the people housed in jails across the United States aren’t there because they have been found guilty of a crime, but because they are awaiting their day in court. You know the whole “innocent until proven guilty” thing—the premise that our “just” society won’t penalize anyone unless their guilt has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt? Well, that whole idea doesn’t really apply to pretrial detention. The Justice Policy Institute, a nonprofit organization that promotes sound research and analysis on the U.S. justice system in pursuit of reform, has published a new paper outlining why the U.S. bail practices should be done away with altogether. [Read more…]