Police Violence: One More Reason to End Cash Bail
The original purpose of bail was to insure a defendant’s appearance at trial. Now it’s a different story.
In the last 40 years, cash bail in America transformed from a system assuring defendants’ presence at future court dates into a pre-trial punishment. This transformation has devastated individuals and families, and it has both reflected and reinforced the power of police to commit violence against citizens.
Some states have recently made progress in restricting cash bail, but in most states, the cash bail system puts people who live from paycheck to paycheck at risk of being imprisoned on the whim of police and prosecutors. Innocent until proven guilty is no longer the law of the land in those states. People who are arrested and can’t make bail are jailed as if they are guilty. They pay dearly. They pay with time they never get back.
Sometimes, as in the case of Sandra Bland, people who can’t make bail pay with their lives. Thousands of people have died in American jails while awaiting trial. The causes range from violence by jail staff and other inmates to untreated medical conditions to suicide. This loss of life alone should make it clear to everyone that cash bail is unsafe, morally wrong, and must be eliminated.
