Beyind Reform
April 3, 2018 10:04 AM   Subscribe

New York City's monument to racism and apathy in the criminal justice system is set to be shuttered - but that might not be enough. Closing Rikers Island. (The Nib) Half The People Awaiting Trial In NYC Jails Are There Because They Can't Afford Bail. (Gothamist) The Case For Closure (PDF). Bail and speedy trail reforms left out of Coumo’s State budget.
posted by The Whelk (8 comments total) 17 users marked this as a favorite
 
I was looking up articles on the price of prison and they cite the Vera Institute and their report.
https://www.vera.org/publications/price-of-prisons-what-incarceration-costs-taxpayers

They did a state of justice report for 2017
https://www.vera.org/state-of-justice-reform/2017

As for my thoughts, would it be acceptable for NYC to try and save money by budgeting a bail fund? I consider expense to be a difference between justice and revenge. If the state is willing to spend a large amount of money to punish something but less willing to spend much less money to prevent the circumstance then it feels less justicy. (Is it victim blaming if they're aggregated into a representative democracy?)
posted by Ziabatsu at 11:43 AM on April 3, 2018


My friend was just telling me about this thing she volunteers at... apparently you're not allowed to pay your own bail for some reason? Even when it's set at $1. Crazy.

Dollar Bail Brigade
posted by Grither at 11:58 AM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


Brooklyn Bail Fund
posted by praemunire at 12:08 PM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


Dollar Bail Brigade documents the absurdity of the system very well on their twitter - even paying the dollar doesn't get people out quickly:

Dollar Bail Brigade‏ @DBBNYC · Mar 19
Some DBB quick stats:

92 people freed since we began in January 2017
682 volunteers in all 5 boroughs

35 minute average response time to get to a jail
Mean wait time to post bail: 7.5 hours (a full work shift!)
Median wait to post bail: 3.5 hours
Longest wait: 49 hours
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 12:46 PM on April 3, 2018


As for my thoughts, would it be acceptable for NYC to try and save money by budgeting a bail fund?

In a sense the city did this last year; the Liberty Fund was set up by the (previous) city council speaker and is at least partially city-funded (though some articles suggest the city funds operating expenses but the bail monies come from private donors; I'm not sure if there is a legal issue preventing city money being used for bail directly). But it's not yet funded to the point that it could effectively end cash bail.

Mean wait time to post bail: 7.5 hours (a full work shift!)
Median wait to post bail: 3.5 hours
Longest wait: 49 hours


I believe these wait times are after the person has been before a judge and bail has been set. According to signs posted in central booking facilities in NYC the average time it takes to see a judge after you've been arrested is 24 hours (and I've heard of much longer waits). So nobody is actually walking out three hours after their arrest.
posted by enn at 1:06 PM on April 3, 2018


In Massachusetts at least, cash bail is literally cash, as in that's the only form of payment they accept. Not shady at all, right? Oh, and they don't tell you this up front but if you don't have $40 additional cash for the bail commissioner (yes, they get to charge the person posting bail a $40 commission for signing some forms, which is definitely not legalized bribery) you're fucked and your loved one gets to rot.

A couple of statistics which I originally got from the Massachusetts Bail Fund but can't find right now:
  • 96% of people bailed out by the Mass Bail Fund appear in court when they are supposed to.
  • Over half of people bailed out by the Mass Bail Fund have their cases subsequently thrown out for lack of evidence.
Bail in MA is for flight risk only; a separate judgment is made regarding danger to the public. People awaiting trial or bail are frequently held in overcrowded prisons among convicted criminals. Jails sometimes refuse to release people if they don't have a ride home, but will instead continue to hold them, illegally. Minimum bail in MA is $500, an amount that literally ensures that low-income people have a different—massively more traumatic—experience with the justice system than do the wealthy.

All of this is way beyond fucked up. It's an ongoing crime against humanity.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 1:23 PM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


The Case Against Cash Bail (New Yorker)
posted by The Whelk at 10:14 AM on April 8, 2018


Top NY judge : Bail system is completely backward
posted by The Whelk at 10:18 AM on April 8, 2018


« Older My editors did me no favors by choosing to publish...   |   Ah, the Eternal Question Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments