Reports & Resources

Reports


For the Safety of the Community: Court Watching in Prince George’s County, MD

January 2024


In-Custody Deaths in Ten Maryland Detention Centers, 2008-2019, August 2023


Inside Prince George’s County Bond Hearings: Analysis, Findings, & Recommendations

March 2023. Movement Lawyering Clinic, Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center, Howard University School of Law


Robert Frazier et al v. Prince George’s County et al

This open federal lawsuit describes how hundreds of people are jailed without trial for long periods in Prince George’s County in clear violation of the U.S. Constitution and Maryland court rules.

July 19, 2022.  Filed by the Georgetown University Law Center’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, Civil Rights Corps, and the WilmerHale law firm, with information from Courtwatch PG.

Supplement 1: Class Action  July 19, 2022.

Supplement 2: In Support of Motion for Preliminary Injunction  October 10, 2022.

Supplement 3: County’s Response to Motion to Dismiss  October 10, 2022.

Supplement 4: Judge’s Opinion and Order on the Motion to Dismiss January 24, 2023.

Supplement 5: PG County Status Report  April 28, 2023

    5a. Cover Letter

    5b. Revised OPS Procedures Manual

    5c. Handout for Loved Ones

    5d. Responses to the Judge’s Questions (Supplement 4, Appendix A)

Supplement 6: Plaintiffs’ Response to the PG County Status Report May 15, 2023 


OPS Account of Levels of Supervision and the Risk Scoring Instrument

submitted to the federal court on September 26, 2022


Trapped in Pretrial: Prince George’s County and the Need for Meaningful Bail Reform

Fall 2022.  Life After Release and Courtwatch PG


Findings from Courtwatch PG’s Analysis of Release Timelines from the Office of Pretrial Services

July 18, 2022.  Courtwatch PG


The Civil Rights Implications of Cash Bail

January, 2022.  U.S. Commission on Civil Rights


Custodial Sanctions and Reoffending: A Meta-Analytic Review

September 22, 2021.  Crime and Justice


Accountability Letter to Prince George’s County’s Chief Judges

December 23, 2020.  Courtwatch PG


Inside Prince George’s County Bond Hearings: Analysis, Findings, & Recommendations

December 9, 2020. Movement Lawyering Clinic, Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center, Howard University School of Law


The Graham Report

An extensive report on active racism in the Prince George’s County Police Department, in support of a lawsuit that the county later settled.

August 28, 2020.  Michael E. Graham, former Assistant Sheriff, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.


Memorandum Opinion by Federal Judge Paula Xinis that the Prince George’s County Department of Corrections “exhibited a reckless disregard for provision of basic care.”

May 21, 2020


The Ongoing Fight Against Oppressive Bail

March 12, 2020.  Legal Data & Design Clinic


The Punishment Bureaucracy: How to Think about Criminal Justice Reform

March 28, 2019.  Yale Law Journal


Bail Reform: A Practical Guide Based on Research and Experience

March 12,2019.  National Task Force on Fines, Fees, and Bail Practices


Principles of Pretrial Release: Reforming Bail without Repeating Its Harms

Fall 2018. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology


Advancing Bail Reform in Maryland: Progress and Possibilities

February 27, 2018.  Baltimore City and Prince George’s County Branches of the NAACP


Report of the Prince George’s County Pretrial Release, Work Release, and Diversions Programs Task Force

December, 2017.


Final Report of the Governor’s Commission to Reform Maryland’s Pretrial System

December 19, 2014.


Report of the Pretrial Release Project Advisory Committee

October 11, 2001. Maryland Judiciary


Pulitzer Prize winning series on rape and sexual assault in the Prince George’s County Jail

September 26-28, 1982.  Washington Post

 

Law and Legal Terms

Maryland Rules

Charging Language


Glossary of Court Terms


Bail in the United States (Wikipedia)


Hill v. Nicodemus (1992)

U.S. v. Salerno (1987)

Wheeler v. State (2005)

Soderberg v. Carrion (2022)


ACLU: Know your rights: Stopped by police

Legal Information Institute: Stop and Frisk


Public Institutions

Maryland Manual

Maryland General Assembly

Maryland Association of Counties blog: Conduit Street


Maryland Courts

District Court in Upper Marlboro

Court Records

Journalist’s Guide to Maryland’s Legal System  (May 1, 2019)


Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office

Maryland Office of the Public Defender

Database of Maryland Attorneys


Prince George’s County Office of Pretrial Services

Compare:   Anne Arundel County Pretrial Services Unit

Pretrial Services Programs (Wikipedia)

NAPSA Standards on Pretrial Release

Prince George’s County Department of Corrections Inmate Lookup


Prince George’s County Police Department


Other Websites of Interest

COURTWATCH  

Alec Karakatsanis on Substack

The Appeal 

Bolts Magazine

Brennan Center for Justice 

Cahoots

Civil Rights Corps 

Coroner Reports Project

Gasping for Justice 

Harriet’s Wildest Dreams 

Justice Not Fear

Life After Release 

Marshall Project

Maryland Matters 

One Million Experiments 

Penal Reform International: Pre-Trial Justice page 

Pretrial Justice Institute 

Prison Policy Initiative 

Project NIA

ProPublica

The Sentencing Project 

Silver Spring Justice Coalition

Stanford Open Policing Project

Survived & Punished 

Truthout 

Unlock the Box Now Campaign

Vera Institute 

Zealous