![]() ![]() In many ways, the story of bail funds provides a window into many critical moments in American history over the last century. ![]() to pay bail for those who cannot afford it.īail funds have long presented a pathway to freedom-a disruptive fissure in a system that criminalizes both poverty and race. One mechanism, and the subject of this paper, has been the creation of organized “bail funds” 5 Sarah Phillips, National Survey of Community Bail Funds: Report to the Community (April 2017). The response has been to pool personal, family, or community resources wherever possible. It has targeted dissidents, activists and members of political groups that challenge the status quo. Throughout American history, the criminal legal system has targeted marginalized communities. But this comes at an enormous cost-a permanent criminal record that will have negative rippling effects on all aspects of an individual’s’ life, including his or her employment, housing, voting rights, immigration status, child custody, physical and mental health. In this precarious situation, poor people under arrest often fall prey to the whispers of prosecutors who promise them an enticing deal-plead guilty now and you can return home. So, the ability to get someone out of jail while his or her case winds its way through an overburdened criminal legal system is critical.įor low-income families, struggling to feed their families, pay rent, and make ends meet, even a low-end bail is an insurmountable challenge. 3 Leila Morsy & Richard Rothstein, Mass Incarceration and Children’s Outcomes (December 2016). It will influence case outcomes, life outcomes, and the long-term consequences of an arrest. Whether a person is in jail, on bail, or at liberty, will determine just about everything that comes after the jail door does, or does not, close. It is, for those who cannot afford to pay it, the most destructive force in the criminal legal system-ruining lives, destabilizing families, and weakening communities. Moreover, it creates enormous pressure on the person locked in a jail cell to plead guilty to a crime-whether or not she is guilty-so she can return to the safety of her home. It is one key driver of mass incarceration, responsible for 99 percent of jail growth in America over the past fifteen years. 2 Color of Change & American Civil Liberties Union, $elling Off Our Freedom: How Insurance Corporations Have Taken Over Our Bail System (May 2017). Įvery night, almost half a million people-who have not been convicted of anything-go to sleep in jail cells because they cannot afford to pay cash bail. 1 Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration’s Front Door: The Misuse of Jails in America (February 2015). Today, eleven million men and women, almost all from low-income communities and disproportionately from communities of color, are shoveled into jails across America for ever-increasing minor offenses-conduct that goes on in every community but is only policed in their communities. ![]() From slavery to mass incarceration, American systems have conspired to control and incarcerate men and women from marginalized communities, particularly communities of color. The funds we raise here will help the family with much-needed funeral expenses.For as long as there have been jail cells and bondage in America, families and communities have pooled their resources together to try to purchase the freedom of their loved ones. He loved people and always had a smile and a hug for everyone that needed it. Joshua was a member of the Ithaca Youth Bureau, the Racker Center, and he spent much of his time at Cayuga Ridge Nursing Home - singing, dancing, making cookies, and passing out drinks to the elderly people there. Joshua Zenas Alexander Taylor Juett was born on 3/3/93. This is what Enilda has told me about Joshua: He was Sam’s favorite uncle and Enilda, Sam’s mother, has been looking after Joshua full time for over a year. Joshua was 28 years old but was much younger than his years due to his medical condition. This afternoon (Saturday, June 19th) I heard that Joshua, the beloved uncle of Sam, one of my students, passed away last night from Williams Syndrome. If you don’t know me already, I am a 3rd-grade teacher at Cayuga Heights in Ithaca, NY.
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