Pretrial Purgatory: Insights About Punishment and Justice

Pretrial detention has evolved to ensure, in theory, public safety and participation in court proceedings, and yet, at the same time, is not a legal status that permits punishment. Yet, detention imposes a range of potentially harmful experiences and short- and long-term effects. We conceptualize pretrial detention as a form of purgatory, one that interrupts the lives of individuals in ways that are both persistent and punishing. This conceptualization, we argue, provides a foundation for organizing and generating insights about punishment and justice in the earliest stages of criminal justice system processing. It also provides a platform for gaining insight more generally into the changing nature of punishment and justice—and, in particular, the persistent outcast status and punishing sequalae resulting from justice system involvement—in the tough-on-crime era. Implications for theory, research, and policy are discussed.