Today we're joined by Asia Johnson from The Bail Project,  listen in as we discuss the oppressive realities of America's cash bail system.

Transcription and references can be found here. 

Noelle: American taxpayers pay $14 billion each year to incarcerate people pre trial. So, [...] before they've even ever been convicted of anything. And meanwhile, the $2 billion bail industry extracts money from precisely those communities that have the fewest resources. 

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Asia: [...] So with The Bail Project, I started two years ago, 2000...well it's almost coming up on two years. I started in January 2019. And prior to my work with The Bail Project, I myself was formerly incarcerated. And so I remember sitting in a cell with a girl whose bond was fairly low, or to the average American, you would think that $500 isn't a lot of money, but her family could not afford it. And she actually sat in jail for over a month until her case came to a close. And so her charges were eventually dismissed and I just remember having that sit with me--wow, somebody is sitting in jail simply because they don't have money. And I also remember the Kalief Browder story, and we all know how tragic that story was. And what the cash bail system is, is a humanitarian crisis in our jails, but also a constitutional crisis in our courts. The presumption of innocence has been stripped from people, and keeping them in these cages when they haven't been convicted of anything is a tragedy. [...] Historically, bail was designed to ensure that those accused of a crime would come back to court. It was never meant to be a punishment, it was never meant to have our jails filled to the max, [with] people who haven't been convicted of anything. But that is exactly what bail has become, it has become a punishment. It was supposed to be affordable, but you know, right now the average American can barely afford a $400 emergency expense and the average bill amount is over $400. And so what we see is that this industry has become about money and less about human lives. And it creates a two tiered system in the justice system, one that benefits those with money, and the repercussions of not having money, which will mean that you sit in a jail cell until your day in court. And that could be weeks, months, and sometimes even years. [...]And so the cash bail system really does wreak havoc on those that are affected by it. 

Miranda: And you know, on any given day nearly half a million people really are in jail cells across America, just waiting for their criminal cases to move forward. And people in pre trial detention now make up more than two thirds of America's jail population, which is just--it's crazy to me. Like you said, even though they're presumed innocent until guilty, they still suffer the harms of incarceration unless they have enough money to pay bail and ultimately buy their freedom. 

Asia: You know, we come from a standpoint that pretrial incarceration should ONLY be for extreme cases where that person poses an imminent threat to themselves or to the community--an imminent threat of violence. [...] Money should not be the determining factor on whether somebody is free or not. And we see with our work with The Bail Project that people return to court even when they don't have money on the line. 90% of our clients return to court and it's not because they have skin in the game, it's because their needs were met. And so the idea that money will bring people back, I think that is outdated. 

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Join us for season one as we explore bias, systemic racism, the roots of oppression and barriers found within education and the criminal "justice" system.