Book Review: Punishing poverty: How bail and pretrial detention fuel inequalities in the criminal justice system

• Published date: 01 September 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/07340168211029999
• Author: Colette B. Harris
• Date: 01 September 2024

club. Despite these differences, Williams argues that common themes of community, social control, and

status are found in the two scenes. Further, Williams argues that these themes are interconnected, where

the institutionalization of the scene requires social control, where social control is dependent on status,

and where social control and status combine to create community through cultural norms.

Conclusion: A Culture of Refusal

Williams uses this chapter to explain that after-club scenes remain an integral yet hidden part of urban

communities today. Using illegal activities to engage patrons and employees alike, each scene is its

own institution, maintained through social control, status, and community.

I highly recommend this book to scholars, professionals, and students because of its thorough eth-

nographic examination of an understudied area. This book is best suited to be used for courses on

qualitative methodology, urban sociology or criminology, and cultural deviance. In addition, this

book is a useful reference for individuals interested in understanding human interaction and behavior

within small, fringe subcultures.

ORCID iD

Caitlin A. Dorschhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0586-5751

Scott-Hayward, C. S., & Fradella, H. F. (2019).

Punishing poverty: How bail and pretrial detention fuel inequalities in the criminal justice system. University of

California Press. pp. 300. $29.95. ISBN: 9780520298316.

Reviewed by: Colette B. Harris,Prairie View A&M University, TX, USA.

DOI: 10.1177/07340168211029999

The racial and social injustices of the United States are apparent throughout the legal system, con-

sidering who the criminals are and who decides what makes one a criminal. In the absence of the

unfair drafting of legislation to punish some and not others, the lack of a solid financial position

further disadvantages the average individual arrested in the United States. Economic disadvantage

creates a disparity in the equal administration of justice, whereby the financially stable seem to

escape justice system involvement while the poor become stuck in a perpetual cycle. Christine

S. Scott-Hayward and Henry F. Fradella argue that one of the significant causes of inequality in pre-

trial detention is access to finances. Money affords the ability to pay monetary bail and the ability to

hire an attorney in reasonable time to negotiate appropriate bail amounts. Accordingly, a central

thesis of Punishing Poverty is that—in addition to other factors relevant to nonmonetary bail

release decisions—there should be an evaluation of the accused’s ability to pay a set bail amount.

Punishing Poverty begins with an introduction on the purpose of bail, the waves of bail reform,

and a detailed road map of the chapters. The authors format the book in part to an extended essay that

is relatively easy to read. The text is organized through several chapters that reflect central ideas like:

“The Origins and History of Bail in the Common Law Tradition,”“Pretrial Release Decisions and

Outcomes,”“The Problems With Risk-Assessment-Based Bail Determinations,”“The Impact of

Pretrial Detention,”and “The Path Forward.”The previews at the beginning of each chapter

provide a detailed awareness of forthcoming information, while concluding summaries reiterate

key concepts the authors hope to convey.

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