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AQ Q&A: Richard Aborn on Reducing Pretrial Detention Rates

By Mari Hayman

The hemisphere's high pretrial detention rates have lasting effects on those in jail, their families and their communities—and many of them are innocent.

Richard M. Aborn, president of the consulting firm CAAS LLC, speaks with Americas Quarterly about the consequences of high pretrial detention rates in the Americas, and explores ways of rethinking pretrial detention so that it can be made more equitable.

"People linger in jail for years and years because of their poverty," Aborn says. Poor defendants cannot afford bail or a lawyer who will adequately represent them, even in cases where they are eventually acquitted. The unnecessary time spent in jail comes at a cost to the inmate as well as...

Read this article on the Americas Quarterly website. | Subscribe to AQ.

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