Cincinnati City Council Motion Would Do Away with Monetary Bail for Those Accused of Nonviolent

[TexasTowelie]

Cincinnati City Council Motion Would Do Away with Monetary Bail for Those Accused of Nonviolent Misdemeanors


Cincinnati City Council will soon consider a motion that would direct city prosecutors to forego monetary bail for nonviolent misdemeanor suspects awaiting trial.

Council member P.G. Sittenfeld, a Democrat, partnered with the Ohio Justice and Policy Center, local law professors and the AMOS Project on the initiative. Sittenfeld's fellow Democratic council members Wendell Young and Greg Landsman, as well as Republican council member Jeff Pastor, support the measure.

Bail is generally a method used to try and ensure that defendants awaiting trial show up to their court dates instead of fleeing. However, some research suggests it isn't effective toward that end, and critics say it instead simply penalizes those who do not have the money to pay to get out of prison while they wait for their day in court.

“We know that the inequities in our justice system more severely impact people who are low-income and people who are from communities of color,” Sittenfeld said during a news conference about the motion today. “To be the fair, just, beloved community that we all want to be, we need to face these challenges head on.”

Read more: https://www.citybeat.com/news/blog/21063443/cincinnati-city-council-motion-would-do-away-with-monetary-bail-for-those-accused-of-nonviolent-misdemeanors