We Can’t End Mass Incarceration Without Ending Money Bail




Even though you are presumed innocent in the eyes of the law, if you can’t afford cash bail, you will end up in jail for weeks, months, or, in some cases, years as you wait for your day in court. This wealth-based incarceration disproportionately punishes and targets Black people and other people of color as well as people from economically disadvantaged communities. Those trapped by this system often lose their families, jobs, and homes as they are denied justice while waiting for their case to move through the system.

They’re also more likely to be convicted of the crime they were charged with. One study showed that the non-felony conviction rate jumps from 50 percent to 92 percent for those jailed pretrial. For felony cases, the rate jumps from 59 percent to 85 percent. Whether you are detained before trial can very well predict whether you are eventually convicted, as people become desperate to leave jail and agree to plea deals. Prosecutors know how to work this system and take advantage of these desperate situations.

But prosecutors aren’t the only ones who benefit from this system. Multinational insurance corporations and for-profit bail bond companies make billions in profits, all on the backs of low-income people and disadvantaged communities. That’s because if you want to get out of jail and you cannot afford it, then you have to turn to one of these companies to secure your freedom. According to a recent report by Color of Change and the ACLU Campaign for Smart Justice, fewer than 10 companies are responsible for a significant majority of the $14 billion in bonds posted by for-profit bail each year. The industry collects around $2 billion a year in profits.

These companies require an upfront, nonrefundable fee—usually 10 percent—to pay for your bail. Yet often times families cannot afford this fee and end up paying through installment plans with high interest rates, trapping them in years of debt. So individuals with enough money to pay their entire bail upfront generally receive all of their money back when their case is resolved, but if a for-profit bondsman bailed you out — even if you never miss a day in court and are found not guilty — you and your family are still financially beholden, many times for years paying them back.

This is happening throughout the country. In Maryland, for example, the state’s Office of the Public Defender found that over a five-year period, “more than $75 million in bail bond premiums were charged in cases that were resolved without finding of any wrongdoing.” Overall, for-profit bond premiums cost families in the state more than $250 million over five years, and that does not include interest or other fees. When you take a deeper look, as we have, you’ll see that these predatory loan practices are often concentrated in the poorest communities and are disproportionately paid by Black people. We’re seeing hundreds of millions of dollars drained from our most underserved communities into the hands of the bail bond industry and multinational corporations.

There’s a better way towards justice. Some states — like New Jersey — have already pursued important reforms that begin to overhaul the money bail system. They are putting an end to people being punished simply because they cannot afford money bail. They are changing the culture of the courts and making sure that judges make informed decisions for each individual they see and exhaust all other alternatives before ever resorting to money bail.

And these reforms are beginning to work. Since New Jersey’s bail reform law took effect on January 1, 2017, the daily population in the state’s jails has dropped 17.2 percent and cash bail has been imposed only 33 times out of 33,400 defendants. New Jersey’s example demonstrates that we can fix this predatory system without inhibiting our justice system’s ability to fulfill its obligations. Incarceration rates are dropping where reforms have been implemented, and communities are better off for it.

Money shouldn’t determine someone’s freedom from incarceration. Big business must not be the gatekeeper that decides who is released from jail before trial. Profits must be removed from playing any role in deciding whether a person is free or in jail.

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Its so ridiculous how a family member a love one is sitting in jail for a 9 thousand dollar bail because the low income people can't pay for this so what to do next.. Who would help on that situation..


We need to get rid of bail altogether. A judge needs to determine either bail or no bail based on whether or not someone is a danger or a flight risk. No one should be held for non-violent crimes if they are not a flight risk and they have not been proven to commit a crime. This is just a loophole created for the wealthy and to extort. It has no other value.


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