"Tying people’s freedom to their ability to pay means that poor people go to jail while rich people don’t."
What is Money Bail?
Money bail is the amount of money defendants must post to be released from custody until their trial. Bail is not a fine. It is not supposed to be used as punishment. The purpose of bail is simply to ensure that defendants will appear for trial and all pretrial hearings for which they must be present.
Why BAIL-REFORM?
Today the United States suffers with overpopulation of prisons & jails, and is the country with most incarcerations in the world. This can be associated with with a variety of factors including money bail. On any given day, people who haven't been found guilty of any crime are detained across the U.S. because of an inability to post bail. This causes a problem of punishing those who are most vulnerable - people in lower socio-economic classes. Bail-Reform is a movement to inform people on money bail, and find new means for pre-trial releases such as release on your own recognizance (ROR).
Release on your own recognizance is a written promise signed by the defendant promising that they will show up for future court appearances and not engage in illegal activity while out on an ROR.
Release on your own recognizance is a written promise signed by the defendant promising that they will show up for future court appearances and not engage in illegal activity while out on an ROR.
MANIFESTO
In modern America most of us live our lives as if everyone was treated equal. As if the situation we are in is a sole consequence of our choices and actions. This couldn’t be further from the reality. The truth is that the we are treated differently based on our socioeconomic status. The systems that surround us are built to keep people in their respective socioeconomic classes. People below the poverty line – mostly African Americans – are in a disadvantage from the moment they are born to the moment they die. The people who need the most help, who are most vulnerable because of the toll that poverty takes, are the ones who least receive it.
,The American money-bail system is an example of how America keeps poor people constrained to precarious situations. Money-bail causes rich people to go free while the poor go to jail. It has a ripple effect, that has deeper consequences than just making people spend time incarcerated awaiting their court date. People who aren’t able to post bail, are at a greater chance of being found guilty, pleading guilty and spending more time incarcerated than those who have the means to buy their freedom. It causes significant hardship for their families and children. Pretrial detainees are often pressured to accept any deal in front of them causing them to plead guilty. This causes them to have a criminal record that will significantly decrease their chance of getting a job. While incarcerated these people can’t work, creating financial hardship on their families. In addition, spending significant amounts of time in jail can cause their children to be taken away by child services, traumatizing them for the rest of their lives.
Since, money bail punishes those who don't have the means to pay, it causes recidivism. African Americans and Latinos are located on the bottom end of the income spectrum while whites are located on the top end. This means money bail is causing a disproportional amount of African Americans and Latinos to be held pretrial and convicted when compared to whites.
What News Sources and Activists Have Said
"Cash bail system makes poverty a crime" - USA Today
"Bail is supposed to encourage defendants to show up for trials, but it also increases the likelihood of conviction and recidivism" - The Atlantic |
"Bail Reform would reduce injustice - and save money" - The Washington Post
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"Cash bail criminalizes poverty, devastating low-income communities and disproportionately affecting women and people of color." - The Bail Project
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"Cash bail favors the rich, who can pay it and go home, while poorer people are frequently forced to remain in jail while they await trial." - New York Times
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“Poor people and people of color born into ghettoization, in child protective services, in failing schools – they are “the Others” we allow to exist just on the periphery of our own imagination.” -Michelle Alexander
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"Unaffordable cash bail is the oil that keeps the plea-bargaining machine running, turning the exercise of justice into an assembly line and keeping people in jail cells who have not been convicted of anything." - The Bail Project
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"The American money-bail system is not only grossly unfair and irrational, but imposes far greater harms on defendants and the public than we realize.” - Ethan Frechman
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