The Price of Freedom: America’s Unjust Cash Bail System

In the United States, those without money are incarcerated while they await trial, whereas those who can post bail await trial freely in the community; Lady Justice’s scales tip when the wealthy tip her. Some reported they would not be able to afford it at all. Because it is so often imposed on peop...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inBrown Political Review
Main Author Jiang, Mitsuki
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Providence Brown University Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics: Brown Political Review 12.05.2024
Subjects
Bail
Crime prevention
Criminal pleas
Imprisonment
Nonviolence
Pretrial detention
Prisons
Reforms
Trials
United States > US
Illinois
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:In the United States, those without money are incarcerated while they await trial, whereas those who can post bail await trial freely in the community; Lady Justice’s scales tip when the wealthy tip her. Some reported they would not be able to afford it at all. Because it is so often imposed on people who cannot pay, bail has become an insurmountable financial burden for countless Americans, threatening to irreparably disrupt their lives. "In the United States, those without money are incarcerated while they await trial, whereas those who can post bail await trial freely in the community; Lady Justice’s scales tip when the wealthy tip her." Over 95 percent of crime in the United States is nonviolent, indicating that most people who are arrested can safely await trial in their communities rather than in holding cells. [...]cash bail reform is not a novel idea. In Harris County, Texas, dropping cash bail for those charged with nonviolent offenses led to a 6 percent drop, not increase, in recidivism. [...]cash bail reform does not, in reality, decrease the rate at which defendants show up to their trials—nullifying the logical underpinning of cash bail programs.