Posts in Bail Reform
Americans Are Receptive to Bail Reform

"Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed favor ending the practice of jailing people who cannot afford bail before trial “except in extreme cases,” while 45 percent of those surveyed favor the elimination of money bail entirely. As for general principles, 70 percent of those polled said public safety should be the primary concern when deciding whom to detain before trial, while 78 percent said they believe the criminal-justice system favors the wealthy. Just 6 percent feel there is “no need for change” to the U.S. criminal-justice systems."

National Review

July 12, 2018

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Bail ReformAnthony BradleyNational Review, Bail Bonds
Reforms intended to end excessive cash bail in Md. are keeping more in jail longer, report says

"The June 21 report, which analyzed pretrial jail populations in Prince George’s County before and after bail reform was implemented in 2017, suggests that while cash bails have decreased, judges have opted to hold more people without bond instead of releasing them on their own recognizance. The increase in “no-bail” holds violates the spirit of rules that the Maryland Court of Appeals adopted to address concerns over racial and financial inequities in the cash-bail system, public defenders and advocates say."

Washington Post

July 2, 2018

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Bail ReformAnthony BradleyWashington Post, Maryland, Prince George's County
You’ve Been Arrested. Will You Get Bail? Can You Pay It? It May All Depend On Your Judge. By Anna Maria Barry-Jester

"In New York City, when clients of The Legal Aid Society who were charged with a misdemeanor in 2017 entered their initial arraignment, they had anywhere between a 2 and 26 percent chance of the judge setting a cash bail, depending on which judge was randomly assigned to oversee the court that day. For felonies, the range was even wider: anywhere between 30 and 69 percent."

FiveThirtyEight

June 19, 2018

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Judges, Bail ReformAnthony BradleyFive Thirty Eight, New York City, Bias, Judges
Bail Reform: Explained

"As many as 500,000 people are held around the country in local jails because of their inability to pay bail, mostly for low-level offenses. People held on bail have been accused, but not yet convicted, of crimes. They often are locked up only for inability to pay the amount determined by a judge, frequently based on a preset bail schedule, and not because of an individual assessment based on risk or threat to public safety."

The Appeal

June 14, 2018

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Bail ReformAnthony BradleyThe Appeal
Cash Bail: Putting a Price on Freedom

"Hundreds of people sit in the New Orleans jail awaiting trial on low level offenses simply because they cannot afford to pay cash bail.  According to the Louisiana Department of Corrections, Orleans Parish and neighboring Jefferson Parish are two of the highest incarcerating parishes in the state and The Data Center study strongly suggests that Orleans cash bail bond practices is one of the contributors to New Orleans' high incarceration rate."

Right on Crime

June 13, 2018

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Bail ReformAnthony BradleyRight on Crime, New Orleans, Louisiana
Paul Manafort Has Inadvertently Helped America by Showing the Absurdities of its Bail System

"Cases in New York courts are handled in an assembly-line fashion, often with public defenders rushing to meet their clients to figure out what’s going on. They tend to be in front of a judge and prosecutor for less than five minutes before their bail requests are decided — compared with the apparently extensive negotiations that lawyers for Manafort and Weinstein conducted before their clients had their pre-trial fates delivered."

The Intercept

June 9, 2018

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Bail ReformAnthony BradleyThe Intercept, Paul Manafort, New York City
The Tech Giants’ Misconceived Attack on Bail Bonds

"Most informed students of the system have concluded that if bail is successfully to be done away with, as it largely has been in federal criminal justice as well as some localities, other practices and devices need to fill its place, many of which fall under the heading of pre-trial services. These may include aids and algorithms to help judges assess risks of non-appearance, as well as techniques of defendant monitoring that can include periodic phone calls, electronic anklets, and so forth."

Cato Institute

May 10, 2018

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Bail ReformAnthony BradleyCato Institute, Bail Bonds