As I noted here a few weeks ago, I flew out to Detroit for the third annual Peter J. Henning Memorial Lecture two weeks ago. This year’s distinguished speaker, Jerry Israel, regaled us with observations on how federal courts take (or do not take) wealth into account in pre-trial release decisions. This can be, of course, a matter of interest in white collar crime proceedings, given that some white collar criminal defendants are wealthy individuals.

Taking us back to language in the First Judiciary Act and the Bail Reform Act of 1966, Jerry offered us a history of, and various standards for, bail. These standards are, of course, subject to interpretation in context. And Jerry was armed with court opinions in a number of cases that serve as interesting examples.

A former student of mine, Willie Santana, has been active in attempting to enforce pre-trial release standards under Tennessee law in our trial courts. Willie explains the issues in this article for the Tennessee Bar Association. Willie’s work led me to ask a question of Jerry about parallels between state and federal law bail determinations.

The lecture was engaging and a lovely tribute to Peter’s life and work. And it was a pleasure to meet Jerry in person. He certainly is a master of his craft.