Massive Illinois Police Reform Bill Ends Cash Bail, Limits Deadly Force, Mandates Body Cameras, and Makes It Easier To Dump Crooked Cops
Unfortunately, qualified immunity remains intact.
Bail
California Voters Declined To End Cash Bail. L.A.'s New District Attorney Says He'll Do It Anyway.
Cash bail is as unjust as it is arbitrary.
Voters Used Ballot Initiatives To Defy Power-Mad Politicians
Tax hikes? Drug wars? Racial Preferences? Not today.
The Fight Over Derek Chauvin's $1 Million Bail Shows the System Is Irrational and Broken
The ex-cop charged with killing George Floyd should be allowed to await his trial in safety. That should be the standard for everybody.
A New Bill Would Stop the Feds From Tossing Drug Defendants in Prison Before They're Convicted
A proposed bipartisan change in pretrial detention rules could free thousands annually.
California Voters Will Decide Whether They Want To End Cash Bail Once and for All
Bail bond companies fight to protect their industry, while some civil rights groups worry the reforms won't actually reduce pretrial detentions.
New York Is Having a Violent Summer, But It's Not Because of Bail Reform
The NYPD is still blaming jail releases, but the data simply doesn’t back that claim up.
Meet the Philly Judge Standing in the Way of Efforts To Stop Coronavirus Spread in Jails
Judge Anne Marie Coyle has rejected every emergency attempt to reduce prison populations.
California Judges Set Bail at $0 for Misdemeanors, Low-Level Felonies Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
New emergency rules attempt to slow down justice system to keep people apart.
New York's New Budget: No Legal Weed, No Fracking, No Flavored Vapes, No Police Transparency. But You Get E-scooters!
If only everybody weren’t stuck in their homes.
New York May Re-Reform Its Bail System, and Criminal Justice Activists Aren't Happy
Judges would be given additional leeway to order pretrial detentions.
The Prison Coronavirus Disaster Everybody Warned About Is Unfolding in New York City
Jail officials urge more and faster releases as the virus spreads between staff and inmates.
Chicago Judge Says His Bail Reforms Were a Success. But Independent Reviews Show Flaws and More Crimes.
Did Cook County overdo it and let too many dangerous defendants free?
Lawsuit Targets Nashville Courts for Treating Bail Money Like Down Payments for Fines, Fees
ACLU argues the practice violates the Eighth Amendment.
The Justice Department Wades Into New York Bail Reform Fight With Federal Hate Crime Charges Over Slapping
Police and prosecutors want to maintain a system that punishes poor people before they’re ever convicted.
Opponents of New York Bail Reform Seize on Anti-Semitic Attacks in Order To Sabotage Important Changes
Jewish criminal justice groups are not having it.
New York Is Ringing In the New Year With Major Criminal Justice Reforms
Less dependence on bail and stronger requirements for evidence sharing will help defendants fight charges.
Will Prosecutors Attempt to Neuter New York's Bail Reforms?
Reformers worry that district attorneys will subvert new rules, but prosecutors worry about those who refuse to show up for court.
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.
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.