A move to fix the cash bond system is underway
Posted on Saturday, March 3rd, 2018 at 11:51 am
The idea of a cash bond system — wherein you can stay out of jail while your case makes its way through the system — is fine, if it weren’t also inherently unfair on socio-economic and racial levels. And the numbers are staggering. A Justice Department report from 2014 showed that some 60 percent of those in jail had yet to be convicted of a crime, but instead were awaiting a trial.
Fortunately, a push for change is in the works.
Not only does the cash bail system unfairly target poor people, but it’s also deeply racialized, Marbre Stahly-Butts, co-director of Law for Black Lives, told VICE Impact. “It impacts black folks about twice the rate as it impacts white folks,” she said. “Black men are twice as likely to have a bond set on them, and the bond is often twice as high for the same crime.”