In America, one of our most cherished values is the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Our legal system rests on people’s right and ability to defend themselves. Yet more than 60% of those detained in U.S. jails on any given day are there because they are awaiting a trial and are unable to post the money for bail. A staggering amount of innocent people are currently being lawfully detained. Cash bail, the policy that requires people to buy their freedom, has long been used to entrench poor and working class citizens within a two-tiered caste system, not of guilt and innocence, but of rich and poor. Cash bail is a strategic method of criminalizing poverty, reinforcing social inequalities and perpetuating a system where money— not merit—determines freedom.
A system that allows people to be held in bondage based on their financial state is not just immoral. It is the ultimate hypocrisy in a country that holds up its meritocracy as its main selling point. Cash bail goes directly against the due process we proclaim is so important in America, and it must be abolished. In the meantime, however, every dollar donated to helping those affected by this policy can go immediately to good use, is needed, and truly helps.
The Injustice of Cash Bail
While cash bail has its roots in the legal system in Great Britain, and was designed to ensure that people charged with a crime would return to court, over the years it has evolved to disproportionately affect the poor and marginalized.
If you are arrested for anything from jaywalking to grand theft auto, upon posting bail—an amount of money set by a judge— you can return to your home to recuperate. You can eat with your family, sleep in your bed, and prepare your defense. If you do not have the money to post, then you are doomed to languish in a cell along with nearly 500,000 others as you await trial, which could take years.
Consider the story of Sandra Bland. Arrested in Texas for a minor traffic violation, a judge set her bond at $5,000. This means that in order to post this bond, she had to come up with $500 (10%). Her family and lawyer were working to secure the funds when she was found dead in her cell on the morning of July 13th. The consequences are fatal in a system where wealth determines liberty.
For those who survive, the effects can be just as horrifying. Loss of employment, housing, and child custody are common themes among those forced into a cell, who are often guilty only of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. People are often pressured and coerced into accepting plea deals to secure their freedom, regardless of their innocence. The cycle of poverty and criminalization continues, disproportionately impacting communities of color.
When the caretaker of a family is detained and is unable to purchase their freedom, it throws the situation into a whirlwind for their children and any others who rely on them. Existing inequalities are amplified and intensified. For those already dealing with economic hardship, an untimely run in with the law can serve as the final back-breaking straw.
If this isn’t persuasive enough, The Prison Policy Initiative claims that the annual national cost of pretrial detention to taxpayers is $13.6 billion. This money, along with all of the rest that goes to feeding a violent beast of systemic domination and incarceration, would be better spent on social programs, mental health services, child care centers, and other initiatives that address the root causes of crime.
We must never forget Kalief Browder, whose tragic story is indicative of so many of America’s children. At 16, in the spring of 2010, he was arrested for allegedly stealing a backpack. Unable to afford the $3,000 required to post bail, his mother watched helplessly as he was sent to the notoriously violent Rikers Island. There he spent over 800 days in solitary confinement, was brutalized by inmates and guards alike, and attempted suicide six times. His trial was delayed over 30 times. He was never convicted of a crime.
He told ABC news, “They said if I took a plea, I’d be released from jail that same day. But I didn’t do it. You’re not gonna make me say I did something, just so I can go home.” His tendency to honesty and his unwillingness to bend to the twisted pressures of law enforcement were the adhesives that were used to solidify the cell built around him by the system of cash bail.
The circumstances of Kalief’s incarceration combined with the sadism of his treatment led to his story becoming national news when his charges were finally dropped and he was finally released after three years of vicious, wrongful detainment. He was profiled by the New Yorker. He got his GED, and began taking courses in community college. But the paranoia he felt living in the same society that had locked him up without cause became too much, and at 22, in his mother’s home, he ended his life.
Next year will mark the ten-year anniversary of Kalief’s death. Countless more have been sacrificed since then due to our ignorance of the evil we sanction.
The Argument for Abolition
Our for-profit bail system fundamentally contradicts the principle of justice that says we presume innocence until one is proven guilty. As Kalief Browder said, “It is guilty until proven innocent.” The wealthy can buy their way out of detention while the poor wither in silence. Cash bail is a singularly potent reflection of systemic inequality, and one that is hard to invalidate.
In 2017, New Jersey took a step toward a fairer process, implementing a pretrial system that focuses on “risk assessment” in lieu of cash bail. The New Jersey court calls the new criminal justice system “fairer to poor people and to those who cannot afford to pay money bail, have not committed serious offenses and are not a threat to public safety.” The state has since seen a significant reduction in its pretrial jail population without an increase in crime rates.
I am wary of reforms, as they have historically served to restructure malignant systems, reinforcing them and making them harder to remove. Once the parts of harmful systems have been moved around (reformed) and sufficiently disguised, and they have been visibly changed in the eyes of the people, there is enough reason to suspend disbelief and thus we continue trying to make this dangerous, exploitative system work. Other methods of reform include electronic monitoring and pretrial supervision. These can be just as harmful and insidious as the system we have. We have to be innovative in considering solutions that do not cause more harm.
In Washington D.C., 85% of defendants are released pretrial. There is a high rate of court compliance without the use of cash bail. This should serve as a powerful and much needed myth buster that we do not need to continue to punish people for their financial circumstance. If we know something is wrong, and it continues to happen, it’s worth asking why it is happening? Who does it benefit? Certainly not the majority of us.
The Role of Donations
There are organizations all over the country working furiously to help set innocent people free. When we give to these organizations, we aid directly in someone regaining the freedom they never deserved to lose in the first place. Want to feel like you’re making a difference? Here’s a good place to start.
The Bail Project. https://bailproject.org/ . A national revolving bail fund which pays bail for those with low-income, allowing them to return to their families, jobs, and communities while awaiting trial. Check out the stories from clients on their website to see the profound ways that these donations help people, here.
Envision Freedom, AKA The Brooklyn Bail Fund. https://envisionfreedom.org/ . Collects money to help those in need, and also shares stories that underscore the importance of bail funds. Take a look at some of the stories about people who after their release have been able to get back on their feet and become the helpful servants in their community they were meant to be.
National Bail Fund Network. communityjusticeexchange.org/nbfn-directory . Works to provide immediate assistance and advocates for long-term changes to the criminal legal system. By supporting these organizations, as donors we become part of a larger movement pushing for a fairer system.
The Marshall Project: We Are Witnesses. https://www.themarshallproject.org/witnesses . Feeling less than human? Want to boost your empathy? Spend a little time with these videos. Sobering and necessary for all of us privileged folk who’ve never had to experience the horrors of the reality of the law enforcement system we actively condone.
Supporting the people whose lives are torn asunder by this evil system helps not only the individual, or the family, or even the community of those to whom you are contributing. It mostly (and most importantly) does all of those things. But it also reminds us of the injustice that goes on everyday, the stuff we wouldn’t accept if it were our family members having to go through it. A culture of giving rather than getting inspires stability, encourages the good in others, promotes public safety, and gets us thinking about the realer issues that often lead to “criminal behavior” such as unemployment, lack of education, and mental health struggles.
Cash bail is one glaring example of how financial status determines one’s proximity to freedom in our society. It punishes poverty, perpetuates inequality, and renders invalid the principle of “justice for all.” By abolishing cash bail, we can take a significant and necessary step toward a more equitable justice system.
We have to take action now to help those engulfed in the flames of our criminal legal system. We must learn the intricacies of our cooperation in the harm of others, so we will feel the pull to advocate for systemic change. Donations to bail funds and legal aid organizations, no matter how small, provide immediate relief to families struggling for their lives, and they also contribute in unspeakable ways to the greater movement of solidarity and social justice.
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