Greg Midgette

University of Maryland Website

Greg Midgette is Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland. He holds a Ph.D. in Policy Analysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School.

Voting History

Pretrial detention

Reducing the number of people detained pretrial will lead to a net increase in crime in the medium- to long-term.

Vote Confidence
Disagree 4
Median Survey Vote Median Survey Confidence
Disagree 7
Comments

Some research suggests pretrial detention is associated with higher rates of recidivism later, though I'm not aware of a big enough evidence base to suggest this finding generalizes broadly.

Ending the use of cash bail will meaningfully reduce the number of people detained pretrial.

Vote Confidence
Agree 7
Median Survey Vote Median Survey Confidence
Agree 7
Comments

Among people with identical cash bail amounts--so ostensibly similar perceived restaurant risk--those from poorer areas are more likely to be detained. It's not crystal clear to me that replacing cash bail with another policy will lead to lower rates of detention or will change the characteristics of those who are detained based on the new heuristic a judge would adopt.

Using risk assessment to inform detention decisions will meaningfully reduce the number of people detained pretrial.

Vote Confidence
Neutral/No Opinion 6
Median Survey Vote Median Survey Confidence
Neutral/No Opinion 5
Comments

Judges and community corrections agents deviate from actions recommended by assessments pretty often, so it's tough to know the degree to which detention rates are driven by risk scores versus other inputs to judges' decisions.