L.A. County’s Jail Booking Center Has Become a ‘Living Hell,’ Detainees Say in Court Filing Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Sep 13, 2022
Judge Strikes Down New York Jail’s Prolonged COVID Visitation Ban Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Aug 18, 2022
Bail Reform Helps Countless People. Why Don’t We Hear More of Their Stories? Bryce Covert Jul 19, 2022
New York Jail’s Prolonged COVID Visitation Ban Drives Big Profits on Detainee Calls Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Jun 14, 2022
‘It’s an Emergency’: Tens of Thousands of Incarcerated People are Sexually Assaulted Each Year Val Kiebala Apr 18, 2022
How St. Paul Became The Twin Cities’ Leader On Justice Reform Hibah Ansari, Anna Simonton Jan 11, 2022
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 | December 7, 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 | November 24, 2020
Report Finds Bail Reform in Chicago Reduced Pretrial Incarceration Without Hurting Public Safety A growing body of evidence suggests that it’s possible to reduce or even eliminate the use of money bail without increasing crime. Ethan Corey | November 19, 2020
New York Watchdogs Lack Data to Track Judges’ Compliance With Bail Reform Although the new law took effect in January, state data showing how courts are applying it won’t be available until July 2021. And without funding, courts in small towns and villages may never collect the data. Steven Yoder | September 9, 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 | August 12, 2020
The Public Health Risks of Jailing People for Poverty In Hillsborough County, Florida, the jail population is bloated by cash bail, fines, and fees, perpetuating health inequities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jonathan Ben-Menachem | May 4, 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 April 21, 2020
California Makes Major Bail Change To Slow the Spread of Coronavirus In Jails Bail will be set at $0 for most misdemeanors and low-level felony offenses. Kira Lerner | April 6, 2020
New York Retreats on Bail Reform Amid Coronavirus Outbreak The state, which accounts for roughly one-third of all positive COVID-19 cases in the country, is facing a rapid spread of the disease in its jail and prison systems. Bryce Covert | April 6, 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 | March 19, 2020
Despite Risk of Spreading Virus, Judges Continue to Impose Cash Bail in Pennsylvania In Northampton County, advocates say the practice is putting the people charged for minor offenses, and the broader community, in danger. Joshua Vaughn | March 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 | March 12, 2020
Pennsylvania Public Defenders Not Reinstated Despite Public Outcry Over Firing Montgomery County Chief Public Defender Dean Beer and Deputy Chief Keisha Hudson were fired last month after filing an amicus brief critical of the county’s bail setting practices. Joshua Vaughn | March 6, 2020
Protesters Rally in Albany to Oppose Bail Reform Rollback Advocates, formerly incarcerated people, and lawmakers warned against overhauling the New York law before it has a chance to prove itself. Bryce Covert | February 26, 2020
Bail Reform Was Just The Beginning Of What Democrats Were Elected To Do Vaidya Gullapalli | February 14, 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 | February 12, 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 | February 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 | February 4, 2020
How New York’s Bail Reforms Are Playing Out in a Queens Court Despite dire-sounding headlines, the state’s cash bail reforms are having a positive impact on the people they are meant to help. Bryce Covert | February 3, 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 | February 3, 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 | January 29, 2020
In New Orleans, Drug Testing Is Imposed More Frequently on People Released Without Money Bail People freed from jail on their own recognizance miss more court appearances because of disproportionate conditions placed on their release, a new study suggests. Joshua Vaughn | January 29, 2020
U.S. Senate Candidate Endorses Ayanna Pressley’s Criminal Justice Reform Plan Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez of Texas told The Appeal about her vision for a complete overhaul of her state’s legal system. Kira Lerner | January 9, 2020
Exploiting New York City’s Chinatown Killings to Attack Bail Reform The New York Post used a tragedy to target bail reform activists, rather than point to the challenges of a failed mental health system and poverty. Adam H. Johnson | October 21, 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 | September 30, 2019
Courts Are Intervening to Dismantle Unjust Cash Bail Systems Across the U.S. A series of victories for advocates reflects a shift in the ‘popular narrative’ around bail. Kira Lerner | September 26, 2019
