No Bail Post-Jail Act

Key Points

• Sen. Cotton introduced a bill that would block pretrial release for people charged with a new felony if they have a prior violent felony conviction that led to at least 30 days in prison. These individuals would be automatically considered a danger to the community.
• The bill targets repeat offenders specifically — it only applies to adults (or juveniles charged as adults) who are facing a new felony charge and have already served time for a violent crime. It would not apply to people with only misdemeanor records or those who never served 30+ days.
• The bill works by amending Section 3142(e) of Title 18, which governs federal pretrial detention. It would add a new mandatory category of people who cannot be released before trial, removing judicial discretion for this specific group.
• Importantly, this bill only changes federal law. It would apply to people charged with federal felonies in federal court, not to the much larger number of cases handled in state courts. Most criminal cases in the U.S. are prosecuted at the state level.