Mandatory Detention: New Bill Forces Judges to Deny Bail for Felony Suspects with Prior Prison Time

This bill, simply titled the 'No Bail Post-Jail Act,' is short, but its impact on the criminal justice system is huge. It mandates that judges must deny pretrial release—meaning no bail, no bond, just straight to detention until trial—if three specific conditions are met: the person is currently charged with any felony, they are an adult (or charged as one), and they have a previous felony conviction for a crime of violence that required them to serve at least 30 days in a state or federal correctional facility (SEC. 2).

The Automatic Lock-Up Clause

What this bill does is remove judicial discretion in a specific set of cases. Currently, judges weigh factors like flight risk, the nature of the current charge, and the person’s history to decide if they should be released before trial and under what conditions. This bill changes that for those with a prior record of violence. If that prior conviction landed them in prison for 30 days or more—and it’s crucial that this 30 days was actual time served after conviction, not just time spent waiting for trial—the judge’s hands are tied. They must automatically deem the person a “danger to the community” and deny pretrial release, regardless of the facts of the current charge (SEC. 2).

Who Gets Caught in the Net?

This mandatory rule has significant real-world implications for due process. Imagine a scenario: Someone served time a decade ago for a violent felony. They’ve since rebuilt their life, holding a steady job and raising a family. Now, they are arrested and charged with a new, non-violent felony—say, felony theft or fraud. Under this Act, because of that old conviction, the judge cannot consider their current stability, employment, or the non-violent nature of the new charge. They are automatically detained until their trial, which could be months away. This means losing their job, their housing, and their ability to prepare a defense while free.

The Cost of Removed Discretion

While the stated goal is clearly to increase public safety by keeping individuals with a history of violence off the streets while they await trial, the mechanism is blunt. By making the denial of release mandatory, the bill substitutes a fixed rule for a judge’s ability to assess current risk. This could lead to individuals being detained for months on charges they are eventually acquitted of, simply because of a past mistake (SEC. 2). Furthermore, mandatory detention policies tend to hit low-income communities hardest, as these individuals often lack the resources to weather months of pretrial incarceration without devastating financial consequences. When the judge can’t look at the whole picture—just the box score of a prior conviction—it shifts the burden and cost of incarceration onto people who haven’t been convicted of the current crime.