Senator Sanders Introduces Bill to End Money Bail
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Excerpt:
WASHINGTON, July 25 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced legislation Wednesday to end money bail, which would prevent people from being locked up before trial solely because they cannot afford their bail. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) has introduced a companion bill in the House.
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world and nearly a quarter of all people imprisoned on any given day, disproportionately black, Latinx, and Native American, are unconvictedmeaning they are sitting in jail waiting for a trial, plea bargain or conclusion to their case. Hundreds of thousands of the unconvicted population are in jail simply because they could not afford their bail.
In introducing his bill Sanders said: Poverty is not a crime and hundreds of thousands of Americans, convicted of nothing, should not be in jail today because they cannot afford cash bail. In the year 2018, in the United States, we should not continue having a debtor prison system. Our destructive and unjust cash bail process is part of our broken criminal justice system and must be ended.
"The money bail system is irrational and dangerous. People who are not at high risk but are poor remain incarcerated, while people who may be dangerous are set free if they have the funds. Its maddening to see that those with money can buy their freedom while poor defendants languish behind bars while awaiting trial, Lieu said. Im grateful Sen. Sanders is introducing a bill that moves to end our justice systems reliance on money bail. I previously introduced legislation in the House that addresses this issue and I look forward to working with Senator Sanders. The money bail system warrants sustained outrage because America should never be a nation where freedom is based on cash on hand.
https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-introduces-bill-to-end-money-bail
Link to tweet
Voltaire2
(13,200 posts)Or ignored. Or something.
stuffmatters
(2,574 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,445 posts)Thanks for the thread Donkees.
George II
(67,782 posts)Lieu introduced his way back in January 2017, if anything THIS is a "companion bill" to Lieu's.
murielm99
(30,773 posts)was on top of this long before Bernie jumped on Lieu's bandwagon:
https://www.splcenter.org/news/2017/03/14/alabama-town-agrees-settlement-stop-operating-debtors-prison
https://www.splcenter.org/news/2018/04/26/splc-lawsuit-settlement-ends-debtors-prison-corinth-mississippi
lapucelle
(18,356 posts)to the text of the pending bill Ted Lieu introduced in February 2017, H.R.1437 - No Money Bail Act of 2017. (The similar text can be found in the attachment to the press release from the fiery independent's office. The text of his actual bill is not yet available.)
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1437
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/3271?r=2
Congressman Lieu's bill already has 33 Democratic co-sponsors, including original co-sponsor William Lacy Clay.
BS's press people might want to clarify the press release for accuracy. Lieu's bill is the original legislation. The as yet unavailable Senate version introduced to much fanfare yesterday (a year and a half after H.R.1437) is companion legislation.
Ted Lieu graciously tweeted his thanks for the support of his bill after yesterday's big announcement.
George II
(67,782 posts)...was campaigning against in Missouri last week?
lapucelle
(18,356 posts)I'm not sure why anyone would have a problem with William Lacy Clay.
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)lapucelle
(18,356 posts)ehrnst
(32,640 posts)ehrnst
(32,640 posts)Bernie Sanders Takes on Unjust Cash Bail System, but Still Doesn't Make Direct Connection to Institutional Racism
The U.S. Department of Justice discovered that the city of Ferguson, Mo., where Mike Brown was shot and killed by a police officer, targeted black residents with steep traffic fines that generated millions in revenue for the small town. Indeed, being poor exacerbates the situation because the victim cannot get out of it because they lack the money. But the main reason why they are in the situation in the first place is primarily because of racial profiling.
White people do not find themselves in the same position as black people when it comes to racial profiling. which leads to the inability to pay bail or fight back against unfair traffic fines or police stops.
Simply put: Racism is not a byproduct of being poor. Racism is a product of white supremacy and must be addressed specifically.
Sanders has been criticizedespecially by this reporterfor not raising his IQ on institutional racism up to his well-developed understanding of economics. Moreover, one really cannot understand the economics of America without realizing that its genesis is predicated on white supremacy. There is a reason why the black unemployment rate has dragged behind that of whites since 1954.
https://www.theroot.com/bernie-sanders-takes-on-unjust-cash-bail-system-but-st-1827886869
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)Harris, Paul Introduce Bill to Encourage States to Reform or Replace Unjust, Costly Money Bail System
Our justice system was designed with a promise: to treat all people equally, said Senator Harris. Yet more than 450,000 Americans sit in jail today awaiting trial and many of them cannot afford money bail. In our country, whether you stay in jail or not is wholly determined by whether youre wealthy or not and thats wrong. We must come together to reform a bail system that is discriminatory, wasteful, and fails to keep our communities safe.
Americans should be able to expect fair and equal treatment under the law regardless of how much money is in their pockets or how many connections they have, said Senator Paul. By giving states greater freedom to undertake reforms specific to their needs, our legislation will help strengthen protections for minority and low-income defendants, reduce waste, and move our bail system toward more effective methods, such as individualized, risk-based assessments.
Excessive money bail disproportionately affects communities of color, as studies have shown that African-American and Hispanic defendants are more likely to be detained pretrial than white defendants and less likely to be able to post money so they can be released. It also has an adverse effect on public safety.
The Pretrial Integrity and Safety Act of 2017:
Authorizes a $10 million grant over a three-year period to incentivize and encourage states to reform or replace the practice of money bail.
Sets forth principles to obtain grants, including:
Replacing money bail system with individualized, pretrial assessments with risk-based decision-making. The risk assessments must be regularly validated on a local population, and include objective, research-based, validated assessment tools that do not result in unwarranted disparities on the basis of any classification protected under Federal nondiscrimination laws or the nondiscrimination laws of the applicable State.
Providing for a presumption of release unless the judicial officer determines that such release would not result in the appearance of the person at trial or would endanger the safety of others in the community.
If pretrial release requires imposing conditions, it should be based on the least restrictive, non-financial conditions that a judicial officer determines is necessary.
Supervision of bail conditions should be based on evidence-based practices.
Appointment of counsel at the earliest possible stage of pretrial detention.
Instituting a system of data collection and reporting to show effectiveness of system improvements.
The bill further authorizes an additional $5 million over three years to the Bureau of Justice Statistics to implement a National Pretrial Reporting Program, which provides for data collection on the processing of defendants in State and municipal courts.
Requires an annual report to the Department of Justice that provides for transparency and accountability for these grant programs.
https://www.harris.senate.gov/news/press-releases/harris-paul-introduce-bill-to-encourage-states-to-reform-or-replace-unjust-costly-money-bail-system