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Wilson 1 Sarah Wilson Dr. Stephen Bujno PHIL202G-MID03 SM23 July 30, 2023 Bail Reform What is Justice? Plato’s variation on the definition of justice is “giving another their due. But it is not simply fairness, nor retribution” (Ethics of Care and Wellness; Stephen Bujno page 125). The United States Justice System has numerous issues that need to be addressed. One of the most important current justice issues is the United States’ cash bail system. Bail is a defendant’s legal promise to come to their court date by putting up money or property as collateral. If the defendant appears on their court date, their bail is returned. If the defendant does not show up on their court date their bail is kept by the courts. There are thirteen different types of bail, but the most common is called the surety bail; where the defendant works with a bail bondsman and acquires a loan for a certain amount. This and other types of Cash Bail are creating a devastating imbalance in our Justice system. These types of bail let those with financial means pay for their freedom, while those who do not have any type of cash or liquid asset are forced to stay incarcerated until their trial. This current policy places people with low income at a great disadvantage. In many cases, those who are living without a lot of financial stability having a cash-only bail can end up leading to their loss of employment, housing, custody of their children, and means of transportation. These consequences last for years and devastate the lives and families and communities of these people incarcerated, waiting for their

Wilson 2 trials. Meanwhile, people arrested for the same crime, but with the means to pay the bail do not have this life experience, regardless of how serious of a crime they committed. This difference has created a large socioeconomic injustice. Cash-only bail goes against principles of fairness and equality that should guide the US justice system. We need bail reform to help eliminate the inequalities in our current system. Bail reform will create a more just and fair way to manage people who are incarcerated and waiting for trial. In 2019 the US had the highest number of people incarcerated in the world at a staggering number of 1.77 million people, and 23% of this includes people incarcerated waiting for trial (Jacobson and Walmsley, World Prison Brief). This means that 407,000 are incarcerated, waiting for their trial, but not yet convicted (Wagner). These people are innocent until proven guilty, but sadly, all of them are treated as if they are guilty if they cannot afford bail. Most cannot afford the bail, and judges are routinely setting bail higher than the people can afford (Ganeva and Tana Ganeva is a reporter and editor covering criminal justice The fight to end cash bail (SSIR)). An annual 5-year study period from 2017-2021 found that prosecutors dismissed 28% of filed cases nationwide (Home - Prosecutorial Performance Indicators). The average time to disposition is 256 days for a felony case and 193 days for a misdemeanor (Timely justice in criminal cases: What the data tells US - NCSC). This means that approximately 28% of people who will have their cases dismissed have now been incarcerated for all this time. It is awful! Current policy allows those with the means to pay to get back on the street and forces those who are poor to remain incarcerated.

Wilson 3 A Philadelphia study showed that half of the men incarcerated and waiting for trial were their family’s primary source of income. Shockingly, the most recent national study of jail populations was a 2002 Survey of Inmates in Local Jails. In this study 53 percent of men and 66 percent of women who were incarcerated for an inability to pay bail were parents of minor children (Gordon Director et al. 5 ways cash bail systems undermine community safety). The instability that having an incarcerated parent causes the child is extremely worrisome. Experts believe that children of incarcerated parents are more likely to become incarcerated themselves in the future. These children are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, suicide ideation, and PTSD (Gordon Director et al. 5 ways cash bail systems undermine community safety). It is paramount that we help protect our nation's parents and children, and we can help do this by bail reform. Improve the dignity of defendants with lower financial means and allow them to continue working without the disruption of their life prior to trial. Accused vs community: Professor Wade Maki of UNC Greensboro wrote, “One of the features of utilitarian theories of punishment is that it focuses on the community, not the individual. If we focus on the good of the community to justify our actions, what protections are there for the individual? Do we run the risk of sacrificing the individual's good in favor of the majority? “(Wade Maki, M.A., “Vice, Crime, and American Law,” 2005). Bail reform is a giant leap towards helping to end our overcrowded prison system. The current justice system we have is leading to horrible and unnecessarily high incarceration rates, and it is important to explore every opportunity to help end prison overcrowding and its horrible effects on our citizens and communities. Currently, it seems as though the American Justice

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Wilson 4 system has become more of a “crass utilitarian (Ethics of Care and Wellness; Stephen Bujno page 159-160). Most often the incarcerated are not seen as human beings or American citizens; they are seen as criminals, and we are taught that criminals belong in jail this belief has helped shape our justice system into what it is today and that needs to change. Arguments against reforming cash bail broil down to Fear. The media has helped play a part in this as they do not usually give positive statistics. Fear sells. Society is fearful that eliminating cash bail will increase the number of criminals on the streets, but studies have shown that getting rid of cash bail has not depleted public safety. Instead, it has done the opposite. There have been numerous studies showing a correlation in people held awaiting trial (pre-trial incarceration) and a high recidivism rate. This means that a high percentage of those who have been incarcerated, even for a short amount of time, will have a high likelihood of re-arrest. In places that have implemented cash bail reform, re-arrest percentages have not changed, and a higher percentage of people completed the pretrial process without a new arrest (Gordon Director ;Cash bail reform is not a threat to public safety). Bail reform is one way for America to positively change our justice system. Implementing a no-cash bail will help all of us remember that we believe the incarcerated are innocent until proven guilty. Bail reform focuses more on rehabilitation instead of punishment, and this benefits not only the individuals involved but also the communities they live and work in. The US justice system needs to be reshaped with more empathy, fairness, and equal treatment for everyone and bail reform is a step in the right direction for this end goal.

Wilson 5 Works Cited ACLU Pennsylvania , www.aclupa.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/ broken_rules_statewide_bail_report.pdf. Accessed 25 July 2023. Admin. “What Exactly Happens to Bail Money?” Absolutebailbonding.Com , 17 Aug. 2020, www.absolutebailbonding.com/what-exactly-happens-to-bail-money/. Besiki Luka Kutateladze Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, et al. “Home - Prosecutorial Performance Indicators.” REJECT OR DISMISS? A PROSECUTOR’S DILEMMA , July 2022, prosecutorialperformanceindicators.org/wp-content/uploads/ 2022/07/PPI-Reject-Dismiss-Final.pdf. Florida University, Loyola University (Chicago), Safety and Justice Challenge (John D and Catherine T MacAuthur Foundation) “Bop Ends Use of Privately Owned Prisons.” BOP Ends Use of Privately Owned Prisons , www.bop.gov/resources/news/ 20221201_ends_use_of_privately_owned_prisons.jsp#:~:text=(BOP)%20%2D%20Consis- tent%20with%20the,contracts%20with%20privately%2Dmanaged%20prisons. Accessed 25 July 2023. Brian J. Ostrom, Ph.D., et al. “Timely Justice in Criminal Cases: What the Data Tells US - NCSC.” Timely Justice in Criminal Cases: What the Data Tells Us , www.ncsc.org/ __data/assets/pdf_file/0019/53218/Timely-Justice-in-Criminal-Cases-What-the-Data-Tells- Us.pdf. Accessed 30 July 2023. “Child Welfare Practice with Families Affected by Parental Incarceration.” Child Welfare Prac- tice With Families Affected by Parental Incarceration , www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/ parental_incarceration.pdf. Accessed 30 July 2023.

Wilson 6 Ganeva, Tana, and Tana Ganeva (@TanaGaneva) is a reporter and editor covering criminal jus- tice. “The Fight to End Cash Bail (SSIR).” Stanford Social Innovation Review: Informing and Inspiring Leaders of Social Change , ssir.org/articles/entry/the_fight_to_end_cash_bail. Accessed 30 July 2023. Gordon Director, Peter, et al. “5 Ways Cash Bail Systems Undermine Community Safety.” Center for American Progress , 19 Sept. 2022, www.americanprogress.org/ article/5-ways-cash-bail-systems-undermine-community-safety/. Gordon Director, Peter, et al. “Cash Bail Reform Is Not a Threat to Public Safety.” Center for American Progress , 23 June 2022, www.americanprogress.org/article/cash-bail- reform-is-not-a-threat-to-public-safety/. “Highest to Lowest - Prison Population Total.” Highest to Lowest - Prison Population Total | World Prison Brief , www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest/prison-population-total/ trackback?field_region_taxonomy_tid=22. Accessed 29 July 2023. “How Long Can a Criminal Case Be Delayed?” Law Offices of Graham D. Donath, APC , 28 Apr. 2020, www.gddlaw.com/2020/04/24/how-long-can-criminal-case-delayed/ #:~:text=There%20is%20no%20hard%20and,speedy%20trial%20is%20being%20denied. Initiative, Prison Policy. “How Does Unaffordable Money Bail Affect Families?” Prison Policy Initiative , www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2018/08/15/pretrial/. Accessed 30 July 2023. Jacobson, Jessica, and Roy Walmsley. World Prison Brief Data/United States of America , www.prisonstudies.org/country/united-states-america. Accessed 29 July 2023. Kristen M. Budd, Ph.D. and Niki Monazzam. “Private Prisons in the United States.” The Sen- tencing Project , 15 June 2023, www.sentencingproject.org/reports/private-prisons-in-the- united-states/.

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Wilson 7 “Learn More at Measures for Justice.” Measures for Justice , app.measuresforjustice.org/portal/ PA/measures/23?c=1&p=&ch=m. Accessed 30 July 2023. Wagner, Wendy Sawyer and Peter. “Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2023.” Prison Policy Initiative , www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2023.html#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20about %20421%2C000%20people,behind%20bars%20until%20their%20trial. Accessed 29 July 2023. Wagner, Wendy Sawyer and Peter. “Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2023.” Prison Policy Initiative , www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2023.html. Accessed 29 July 2023. Maki, Wade. “Vice, Crime, and American Law.” DCL: Vice, Crime, and American Law , we- b.uncg.edu/dcl/courses/vicecrime/m7/part1.asp. Accessed 30 July 2023. .