How LA County’s Zero-Bail Rules Can Help Others Like Me
Los Angeles County lawmakers should enshrine the zero-bail rules into law so people in Los Angeles County jails can see their families.
Angel Lopez Jun 28, 2023
L.A. Ended a Zero-Bail COVID Rule, and Now the Jail Population is Growing
In June, a judge ended an emergency order to slow the spread of COVID-19 in LA’s jails, enraging civil-rights advocates.
Nili Blanck Sep 07, 2022
Five Times Miami’s New Police Chief Got It Wrong on Public Safety
Art Acevedo’s recent comments reveal an official who, despite his “good cop” veneer, has played fast and loose with the facts when it comes to addressing public safety.
Eoin Higgins Apr 12, 2021
How Chesa Boudin Is Pursuing His Promise to Reduce Incarceration
After more than a year in office—and despite pushback—the San Francisco DA’s policies have kept people out of jails and prisons.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Mar 18, 2021
Virtually No One is Dangerous Enough to Justify Jail
A common sense cost-benefit analysis of pretrial detention.
Sandra Mayson, Megan Stevenson Mar 15, 2021
Illinois State Lawmakers Vote To Eliminate Cash Bail
The move is part of a broader criminal justice reform bill that also ends prison gerrymandering, and mandates body cameras for all police departments.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Jan 14, 2021
Newly Elected Los Angeles DA Will End Cash Bail in Nation’s Largest Prosecutor Office
On his first day in office, George Gascón said prosecutors will not seek bail starting Jan. 1, a win for criminal justice reformers.
Eliyahu Kamisher Dec 07, 2020
Kyle Rittenhouse Bought His Freedom. Kalief Browder Could Not.
The Rittenhouse case raises particularly pointed questions about what we are really talking about when we talk about bail.
Cori Bush Nov 24, 2020
Criminal Justice Advocates Say New Law Undermines Georgia’s Efforts at Bail Reform
The law, known as SB 402, eliminates the use of signature bonds for a number of felonies, putting poor people who might not be able to afford cash bail at a disadvantage.
Victoria Law Aug 12, 2020
Law Enforcement Leaders Agree: Money Bail Has To End, Especially In A Pandemic
The current coronavirus crisis underscores our urgent need to look hard at our pretrial justice system. Eliminating money bail is a necessary first step.
Ronal Serpas, Taryn Merkl Apr 21, 2020
Rikers Island Physician Voices Coronavirus Fears As Cuomo Meets With Officials Looking To Scuttle Bail Reforms
Late Wednesday, the chief physician at the Rikers jail complex said on Twitter that judges and prosecutors must not leave New York City’s jailed population ‘in harm’s way.’
Lauren Gill Mar 19, 2020
Cash Bail Is Creating a Crisis in Rural Jails
A federal lawsuit alleges lack of due process in a rural Tennessee county, and reform advocates say its jail is hardly an outlier.
Jessica Pishko Mar 12, 2020
New York Democrats Are Caving On Bail
Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. “Under pressure from law enforcement, state lawmakers say they are now willing to make significant changes to the bail reform laws that have been in effect for less than […]
Sarah Lustbader Feb 13, 2020
Criminal Justice Group Drops Support For Pretrial Risk Assessment Tools As Ohio Justices Seek To Block Their Use
Reform advocates say the risk assessments are racially biased and are not effective at their key tasks: predicting the likelihood someone will return to court.
Dawn R. Wolfe Feb 12, 2020
Bail Reform Is About Safety And Well-Being
Kalief Browder’s death in 2015 and Layleen Polanco’s in 2019 are reminders that jail is the real threat to public safety.
Vaidya Gullapalli Feb 10, 2020
A Lack Of Evidence Doesn’t Keep The New York Times From Declaring a ‘Spike In Crime’
In two articles, the Times asserts a ‘spike’ in crime since the passage of bail reform in New York, an increase that the articles themselves note they can’t prove.
Adam H. Johnson Feb 10, 2020
As Bail Reform Takes Hold Across New York State, a Rural County Wrestles With The Future Of Its Aging Jail
The debate around bail reform focused predominantly on New York City’s Rikers Island, but the bigger impact may be upstate, where almost two-thirds of the state’s jail capacity is located.
Ted Alcorn Feb 04, 2020
Michigan Task Force Calls On State To Significantly Reduce Mass Incarceration In County Jails
A bipartisan group has recommended substantive changes to the state’s legal justice system, including cash bail reform and proposals to divert people living with mental illnesses away from incarceration.
Dawn R. Wolfe Feb 03, 2020
Pretrial Reform Must Go Beyond Ending Cash Bail
As a society, we can’t continue to subject hundreds of thousands of people to the trauma of incarceration before they face a jury of their peers.
Andy Philipson Jan 29, 2020
Police and Sheriff’s Departments Join Media Campaign Against Bail Reform In New York State
A wave of sensationalist press is not just coming from New York City, but also from county sheriff and city police departments frustrated by bail reform that they claim is ‘too broad.’
Adam H. Johnson Jan 27, 2020
The Media’s Misguided Backlash Against Criminal Justice Reforms in D.C. and New York
Many liberals support reform in theory. But when unpopular decisions need to be made, it’s back to the 1990s “Tough on Crime” playbook.
Adam H. Johnson Jan 09, 2020
Massachusetts Prosecutors Are Using ‘Dangerousness’ Holds To Keep People Incarcerated Pretrial
Advocates say that despite the election of several progressive prosecutors in the state, there’s a substantial increase in such detentions, which are stymieing gains made through policies to limit cash bail.
Joshua Vaughn Oct 23, 2019
Nation’s Largest Bail Fund Plans To Stop Bailing People Out Of Jail
The Brooklyn Community Bail Fund said it doesn’t want to ‘prop up an unjust system.’
Kira Lerner Sep 30, 2019
Spotlight: Presidential Candidates—Pay Attention to Poverty and All of Its Drivers
The criminal and juvenile legal systems are drivers of poverty. Presidential candidates should recognize that.
Vaidya Gullapalli Jun 26, 2019
Pleading Guilty to Get Out of Jail
The criminalization of poverty in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, has led to a staggering increase in incarcerated people, all at a huge cost for defendants and taxpayers alike.
Joshua Vaughn Jun 06, 2019
New Data Reveals the Racial Disparities in Pennsylvania’s Money Bail Industry
Despite accounting for less than 12 percent of the state’s adult population, roughly 40 percent of all bail bonds were issued in cases involving a Black defendant.
Joshua Vaughn May 22, 2019
New Orleans Prosecutor Calls New Bail Fund ‘Extremely Disturbing’
Advocates noted that bail gives prosecutors leverage to get guilty pleas from people who can’t afford to buy their way out of jail.
Raven Rakia Nov 28, 2018
Georgia Woman Endured Arrest, Million-Dollar Bond, and Months of Jail Over ‘Meth’ That Was Actually Cotton Candy
A notoriously unreliable roadside drug test administered by Monroe County sheriff’s deputies led to Dasha Fincher being charged with methamphetamine trafficking.
Lauren Gill Nov 27, 2018