Bail Reform — Social and Economic Issues — Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Social and Economic Issues

Overcriminalization significantly undermines human flourishing and social well-being by harming the family, social networks, and social citizenship. Additionally, it prevents capable men and women from utilizing their creative capacities in the marketplace. This creates vast issues involving relations with family while incarcerated and reintegration into society after release. On the economic side, draconian cash bail systems undermine justice through basing someone's ability to attain pre-trial release upon their wealth, not their actual threat to society.

Posts in Bail Reform

Video Bail Hearings Violate Rights in Many Ways

“For centuries, military forces have been taught to dehumanize an enemy nation’s soldiers in their minds to more easily psyche themselves up for battle, to inflict harm and death. A video feed to an arraignment judge of a defendant who resembles a cartoon character more than a real person provides an implicit psychological platform for the judge to abandon any empathy he or she might otherwise exhibit toward an arrestee regardless of evidence or a lack thereof.“

Criminal Legal News

August 21, 2019

Bail ReformPhillip ReevesAugust 21, 2019Criminal Legal News, Video BailComment

New York City’s Bail Success Story

“This seismic change in how the nation’s largest city handles bail and jail is the result not of top-down change in the system but of thousands of small shifts in courtrooms every day. Whereas California, New Jersey, Maryland and a handful of other states have tried to eliminate money bail legislatively or through a court order—with mixed success—New York has done so organically, potentially offering a model for other large cities in otherwise recalcitrant states.“

Criminal Legal News

July 17, 2019

Bail ReformPhillip ReevesJuly 17, 2019Criminal Legal News, New York CityComment

Progressive Philly D.A. Krasner's Bail Reform Plans Seem Stalled, Advocates Say

“Though Krasner’s office has made it clear that bail reform is a work in progress and advocates acknowledge some improvements, staff and volunteers at organizations that work directly with defendants say they are surprised at how slowly it’s moving.“

The Appeal

June 25, 2019

Bail ReformPhillip ReevesJune 25, 2019The Appeal, Philadelphia, Larry KrasnerComment

One-quarter of state prison admissions are for minor parole and probation violations, report finds

“In at least five states — Utah, Kansas, South Dakota, Kentucky and Missouri — such technical violations account for more than half of all prison admissions. Such numbers underscore the extent to which the nation’s sky-high incarceration rate is partly a function of probation and parole policies.“

Washington Post

June 20, 2019

Criminalizing Poverty, Bail ReformPhillip ReevesJune 20, 2019Washington PostComment

Should We Be Afraid of AI in the Criminal-Justice System?

“But algorithms also play a quiet and often devastating role in almost every element of the criminal-justice system—from policing and bail to sentencing and parole. By turning to computers, many states and cities are putting Americans’ fates in the hands of algorithms that may be nothing more than mathematical expressions of underlying bias.“

The Atlantic

June 20, 2019

Bail Reform, PersonalismPhillip ReevesJune 20, 2019The Atlantic, AlgorithmsComment

How jails stay full even as crime falls

“Given the internal incentives to keep jails full, change will have to come from outside the criminal justice system. The most obvious lever available, which is picking up steam in multiple states, is bail reform. States could simply mandate that individuals accused of low-level crimes are automatically released on their own recognizance before trial. Jurisdictions that have experimented with this approach have found rates of appearing at trial in excess of 98 percent.“

Washington Post

June 6, 2019

Bail Reform, Overcriminalization, Mass IncarcerationPhillip ReevesJune 6, 2019Washington PostComment

Video Hearings: The Choice 'Between Efficiency and Rights'

“After someone is arrested but not yet convicted of a crime, the next step is to appear before a judge, magistrate, or bail commissioner, who decides whether to release the person or require that they post bail in order to go free until the court date. But in Philadelphia, those arrested don’t physically appear in a courtroom during that crucial first hearing. Instead, they stay in the police booking center and their images and voices are sent to the judge, prosecutor, and public defender by video.“

The Appeal

June 5, 2019

Bail ReformPhillip ReevesJune 5, 2019The Appeal, PhiladelphiaComment

Atlanta Bail Reform is Leaving Behind Homeless and Mentally Ill People

“‘The reality is that a lot of people who populate our local jails are people who are homeless [and] people who have psychiatric disabilities,’ said Sarah Geraghty, a managing attorney at the Southern Center for Human Rights, ‘and by definition those are going to be people who cannot afford to pay small, preset bail bonds to buy their liberty’.“

The Appeal

May 16, 2019

Bail ReformPhillip ReevesMay 16, 2019The Appeal, AtlantaComment

Idaho legislators approve law requiring transparency for risk assessment tools

“The measure is the first in the country to specifically address transparency in the use of computerized risk assessment tools to predict the likelihood of a repeat offense before a judge sets bail or a prisoner is released on parole. It is also the first to set requirements for public access to the design and data used to build the tool’s predictions, requiring that records created during a risk assessment tool’s development, validation, and use to ‘be open to public inspection, auditing, and testing’.“

MuckRock

March 26, 2019

Bail ReformPhillip ReevesMarch 26, 2019MuckRock, IdahoComment

Risk Assessment: Explained

“Over the past decade, a growing number of cities, counties and states have recognized the profound injustice of a cash bail system, in which people who can afford bail walk free while those who can’t are detained. But that awareness gives rise to a thorny question: What should replace it? How should judges decide whom to detain pretrial? In many cases, the answer has been to rely more heavily on risk assessments, algorithmic tools based on predictive analytics.“

The Appeal

March 25, 2019

Bail ReformPhillip ReevesMarch 25, 2019The AppealComment

NY Legislators Should Focus on Reducing Pretrial Incarceration

“In New York and across the country, bail reform is gaining momentum as the public learns how the money bail system discriminates based on wealth and race. Everyone can agree that no pretrial system should treat people differently based on the money in their bank accounts or the color of their skin. But in New York today, rich people accused of crimes can write a check and walk free while they await trial, while those who cannot afford to post bail must languish in jail for months or years until their case is resolved.“

New York Law Journal

March 25, 2019

Bail ReformPhillip ReevesMarch 25, 2019New York Law Journal, New YorkComment

Harris County judges unveil drastic new plan for releasing defendants on no-cash bail

“The new slate of Democratic judges have approved comprehensive revisions to Harris County’s bail system that could clear the way for thousands of people, regardless of income, to avoid spending time in jail while awaiting trial on minor offenses. The county judges plan to present their new court protocol to a federal judge, in a joint request with the sheriff, the county and poor defendants, in a historic class action over bail practices, asking that she implement the revised system as a foundation for a settlement.“

Houston Chronicle

January 18, 2019

Bail ReformPhillip ReevesJanuary 18, 2019Houston Chronicle, Harris County, HoustonComment

California’s historic overhaul of cash bail is now on hold, pending a 2020 referendum

“Bail groups fought the legislation since it was first proposed three years ago, saying it would result in the release of violent offenders to the streets and decimate a $2-billion national industry, including 3,200 bail agents registered in the state. A day after Brown signed the law, a national coalition of bail agency groups launched its referendum drive, raising about $3 million and collecting more than enough signatures to qualify the measure in just two months.“

LA Times

January 16, 2019

Bail ReformPhillip ReevesJanuary 16, 2019LA Times, CaliforniaComment

How Does Bail Work, and Why Do People Want to Get Rid of It?

“Abolishing bail, however, raises the question of whether additional measures to detain criminal defendants will be needed. In a news conference last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the criminal justice system needs not only “reform” but also “tightening up,” particularly through allowing judges to consider a defendant’s level of “dangerousness” before granting bail.“

New York Times

January 11, 2019

Bail ReformPhillip ReevesJanuary 11, 2019New York TimesComment

The 'Failure to Appear' Fallacy

“Most FTAs are the result of forgetfulness or circumstances beyond a defendant’s control, according to Atara Rich-Shea, director of operations at the Massachusetts Bail Fund. They might need child care, or they are just confused by the court system. A court appearance might take place months after a ticket—long forgotten—was issued.“

The Appeal

January 9, 2019

Bail ReformPhillip ReevesJanuary 9, 2019The AppealComment

How Cities Make Money by Fining the Poor

“The jailing of poor defendants who cannot pay fines — a particularly insidious version of this revenue machine — has been ruled unconstitutional since a trio of Supreme Court cases spanning the 1970s and early 1980s. The first, Williams v. Illinois, involved a petty thief who was forced to remain in prison to pay off a fine, even after he had served his term. The second, Tate v. Short, hinged on a man in Texas named Preston Tate, who was assessed $425 in fines for several traffic violations.“

New York Times

January 8, 2019

Criminalizing Poverty, Bail ReformPhillip ReevesJanuary 8, 2019New York Times, Corinth, MississippiComment

Opinion: The Newest Jim Crow

“This progress is unquestionably good news, but there are warning signs blinking brightly. Many of the current reform efforts contain the seeds of the next generation of racial and social control, a system of “e-carceration” that may prove more dangerous and more difficult to challenge than the one we hope to leave behind.“

New York Times

November 8, 2018

Bail ReformPhillip ReevesNovember 8, 2018Michelle AlexanderComment

One year after Cook County's bail reform, court watchers say things are getting worse

“The findings indicate that bail practices are deeply entrenched in the court. Judge Evans replaced all six judges who oversee bond court last September with ones expected to stick to his order. Although many of those new judges at first released more people on their own recognizance, the progress has slipped.“

The Appeal

October 5, 2018

Bail ReformPhillip ReevesOctober 5, 2018The Appeal, Chicago, Cook County, IllinoisComment

This bail fund is trying to disrupt ‘a two-tier system of justice’

“There's a cascade of dire problems that can occur even if you're only in jail for one day, says attorney Robin Steinberg. The CEO of The Bail Project -- a national organization that pays bail for tens of thousands of low-income Americans at risk of pretrial detention -- gives her Brief But Spectacular take on disrupting the money bail system and turning the tide on U.S. mass incarceration.“

PBS News Hour

September 13, 2018

Bail ReformPhillip ReevesSeptember 13, 2018PBS News Hour, The Bail ProjectComment

Dallas County’s Secret Bail Machine

"In most places around the country, bail hearings are open to the public. The idea is that if the government is going to try to imprison you, the news media and your family and friends should be able to see what goes on and make sure it’s done fairly. Not so in Dallas County, Texas, where people accused of crimes have their bail set behind closed doors — without any family, lawyers, social workers or journalists present."

The Marshall Project

September 4, 2018

Bail ReformPhillip ReevesSeptember 5, 2018Dallas, Texas, The Marshall Project