New Orleans Magistrates Get a Cut of Fines and Bail Money, and That's a Problem
Two federal court rulings cite a significant conflict of interest.
Bail
St. Louis Ordered to Stop Keeping People Imprisoned Just Because They Cannot Afford Bail
People charged—but not convicted—of crimes often have to wait weeks to see a judge if they’re too poor to pay for their freedom.
ACLU Sues Detroit for Bail System that Punishes the Poor
Magistrates don’t care whether defendants can pay, leaving the indigent stuck in jail before they’re ever convicted.
New Jersey Is Keeping More and More People Out of Jail, and That's Great
New Jersey is detaining almost half as many people pretrial, and the state is not seeing a big crime wave.
Supreme Court Turns Away Georgia Cash Bail Challenge
Justices leave intact a ruling allowing detention for 48 hours of those who cannot immediately pay for their release.
Big Pretrial Justice Reforms Included in New York's Budget
Better evidence sharing and a dramatic drop in cash bail demands will help defendants challenge charges.
Supreme Court Gives Feds a Long Leash To Detain Immigrants With Criminal Records
Conservative majority declines to consider constitutional concerns of holding noncitizens without hearings.
ACLU Sues Philadelphia Over Cash Bail Demands That Keep Poor Defendants in Jail
Magistrates are supposed to consider the financial concerns of people who come before them. Instead they're tossing them behind bars.
Federal Judge Orders San Francisco To Fix Bail System that Keeps Poor People Trapped Behind Bars
Very high cash demands disrupt defendants' lives without improving public safety.
Philadelphia Reduced Use of Cash Bail and the Sky Didn't Fall
Defendants aren't being ordered to pay for their freedom, and they're still coming back for court appearances.
Lawsuit Challenges St. Louis Bail System That Keeps Poor People Trapped Behind Bars
Class action claim contends 85 percent of people jailed before trial simply cannot afford to pay and aren't offered alternatives.
New York City Reaches a $3.3 Million Settlement with Kalief Browder's Family
It has been nearly four years since the young man passed away.
Harris County, Texas, Flashpoint of Bail Reform Battles, Will Mostly Eliminate Cash Demands in Minor Cases
Lawsuits playing out for three years spotlight how poor people end up trapped in jail even before being convicted.
California Voters to Decide the Future of Their State's Bail System
Industry representatives succeed in forcing a referendum on reforms passed by lawmakers.
Hello, FIRST STEP Act! Goodbye, Jeff Sessions! The Year in Criminal Justice Reform
2018 was a mixed bag, but that means there was still a lot of good news.
Report: Imprisoning People Who Can't Pay Bail Costs America $15 Billion a Year
Taxpayers shell out big time to keep poor folks who haven't even been convicted of crimes behind bars.
Texas Woman, 61, Dies in Jail After Sitting There for Months over $300 Bail Order
She had a history of mental illness, and was arrested for misdemeanor trespassing in July.
Garden State Crime Is Down Since New Jersey Ditched Cash Bail
Money is no longer needed to get out of jail. This hasn't resulted in danger to the community.
Deputies Confused a Granny's Cotton Candy for Meth. A High Bond Kept Her Jailed For Months.
How an unscientific field test and the bail system stripped a Georgia grandmother of justice.
New Orleans D.A. Complains About Community Bail Funds Releasing Low-Level Offenders
Organization helps poor people cover costs to get out of jail before their trials. Why is this a problem?
Rapper Meek Mill Is Attempting a 1-Million-Person Jail Break
Some people don't belong behind bars. This celebrity-launched criminal justice reform group wants to free them.
Bail Bond Industry Attempting to Force California Jail Reforms to the Ballot Box
A law signed in August will eliminate cash bail entirely in the Golden State, and quite a few jobs in the process.
Denying Bail
The Arizona Supreme Court got it right: categorical denials of bail to persons charged with sexual assault violates the Constitution.
The 'Frightening and High' Factoid About Sex Offender Recidivism Still Stalks Courts Across the Land, Completely Untethered From Actual Numbers
Justice Anthony Kennedy's bogus 2002 claim figures prominently in defenses of an Arizona bail ban.
Is a Categorical Denial of Bail for Accused Sex Offenders Constitutional?
My co-authored amicus brief urges the Supreme Court to review the issue of whether Arizona can deny bail to accused sex offenders where "proof" of sexual assault "is evident or the presumption great."
Supreme Court Declines Case Challenging New Jersey's Near Elimination of Cash Bail
As more reforms take hold, expect more challenges-especially if states end up detaining more people.
Virginia's Attorney General Wants To Stop Jailing People Just Because They Can't Afford Bail
The number of people being detained prior to trial has tripled over the course of three decades.
Cleveland Judge Says He'll Stop Sending People to Jail After 6 Inmates Die in 4 Months
Headlines like this are appallingly common.
Netflix Jail Documentary Misses the Big Question: Why Is This Happening?
First and Last ignores the absurdity that many of its subjects are imprisoned, not to mention Gwinnett County Jail's own troubled record.
California Eliminated Cash Bail. Now Activists and Defenders Have to Make Sure the Replacement Isn't Worse.
The Golden State has a year to implement a new pretrial system, and there's a fear it could lead to more detentions.
California's Bail Reform Deal Is Worse Than Doing Nothing
Bail reform is a good idea, but California lawmakers turned it into one hot mess.
ACLU Turns Against California Bail Reform Bill It Helped Craft
The group fears the bill wouldn't really reduce unneeded pretrial detentions of the poor.
Will California's Proposed Bail Reforms Lead to More People Behind Bars?
Changes in a bill have caused civil rights representatives to take a step back.
Arkansas Judge Sued Over Ruthless Cycle of Jailing of Those Who Can't Pay Fines for Minor Crimes
In many cases the sentence for missing a payment is harsher than the original conviction.
Federal Judges Order New Orleans Courts to Stop Shaking Down Citizens with Fees, High Bail
When half of a court's funding comes from criminal defendants, incentives get twisted.
As Bail Reforms Gain Steam, Civil Rights Groups Warn About Overreliance on Risk Assessment Tools
Data and algorithms can help end biases, but they can also help perpetuate them.
Bernie Sanders Introduces Bill to Eliminate Cash Bail
"Our destructive and unjust cash bail process is part of our broken criminal justice system and must be ended."
When a Baby's Accidental Drug Death Leads to a $3 Million Bail Order, It's Time to Ask Questions
Is a mom who passed drugs along to her infant via breastfeeding a real community threat?
Innocent Until Proven Guilty, But Only If You Can Pay
How America's bail system traps poor people in jail
Americans Support Alternatives to Cash Bail, Once They Know They Exist
People don't like the idea of people who haven't been convicted yet being stuck in jail because they can't pay
Federal Court Upholds New Jersey's Bail-Eliminating Pretrial Reforms
No constitutional right to pay cash for freedom if there are alternatives
Reality Winner Accepts Harsh 5-Year Sentence for Leaking Russian Hacking Report
Would she have gotten a better deal if she hadn't been denied bail?
Manafort Sent to Jail over Accusations of Witness-Tampering
Bail revoked for breaking one of the fundamental rules: Don't meddle with the court case.
Bail Reform Efforts Are Backfiring in Baltimore, Leading to More People Stuck in Jail
Judges were told not require cash bail from defendants who were too poor to pay. Instead they're not offering bail at all.
Google to Purge Ads for Bail Bond Services
Company throws weight behind reformers who want to end the practice of jailing people who cannot afford to pay.
ACLU Sues Texas County over Pay-or-Stay Bail System
Magistrates don't consider risk or ability to pay, leaving a system where people are stuck if they're poor.
People Stuck in Jail Because They're Poor Have New Hope
Potential pretrial reforms for those locked up in Nashville, Atlanta, Philly, or the Golden State.
Here Are 5 Criminal Justice Reform Measures That Americans Say They Support
A new poll says voters want change. They can get it if they truly want it.
