Public defender Robin Steinberg couldn’t accept that people without money are housed in jails all over the country, not because they are guilty, but because they can’t afford bail.

So she started the Bail Project, an organization dedicated to eradicating the use of cash bail. The Bail Project actually pays the bail of the accused so they can be free from prison while the charges against them are dealt with by the criminal justice system.

Steinberg has been a public defender for more than 35 years. She has represented thousands of low income people accused of crimes, trained other public defenders and founded other organizations - namely the Bronx defenders In NY and Still She Rises, in Oklahoma. She has taught at Columbia and UCLA, given a TED Talk and is a featured speaker worldwide on criminal justice reform.

Steinberg is the author of the new book - The Courage of Compassion - A Journey from Judgment to Connection, about her experience inside the system.