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Bail Success Story:New York City

The Marshall Project Mar 26, 2019
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
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Bail Success Story:New York City Giving Compass
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Giving Compass’ Take:

• Eli Hager explains how judges and other decision-makers in New York City are choosing not to rely on bail to the benefit of the system and individuals. 

• How can this type of cultural shift be spread? Do the laws and statutes also need to be changed to prevent regression? 

• Learn about New Jersey’s bail reform efforts. 


Like many states, New York has a bail law that is half a century old. The legal rules that in 2010 made it possible for 16-year-old Kalief Browder to be jailed on Rikers Island for three years for allegedly stealing a backpack—just because his family couldn’t pay $3,000 in bail to get him out—all remain on the books.

Criminal justice reformers around the country are admonishing the Empire State to change its system, arguing that having to pay money to get out of jail unfairly targets the poor. And a newly elected Democratic majority in Albany is eager to heed those calls, as lawmakers this month pore over the final details of a bill that would make New York the third state to virtually abolish money bail.

Yet a new report analyzing more than 5 million criminal cases in New York City since 1987 suggests the city has already done a better job of slashing its use of bail and jail than nearly any other urban area in the United States.

And that’s because of a culture change among judges and other decision-makers, not any change in statutes or court rules.

Over the past three decades, the percentage of cases in New York City in which bail is set has dropped from 48 percent to 23 percent, while the rate at which defendants are released without having to pay money has jumped from 50 percent to 76 percent, according to data released Thursday by the New York City Criminal Justice Agency. The approximately three-quarters of defendants “released on their own recognizance” in the city (meaning free to go without cost) compares with a national average of about 45 to 50 percent and as low as 11 percent in New Orleans, according to one study.

As a result, New York City’s jail population has dropped from nearly 22,000 in 1991 to about 7,800 this year, making it the least incarcerated major city in the United States—by a long shot. Much of that improvement has occurred in just the past few years.

Surprisingly, New York’s lower reliance on bail hasn’t led to defendants not showing up in court. The city’s return-to-court rate is 86 percent versus about 75 percent nationally.

Read the full article about NYC’s bail success by Eli Hager at The Marshall Project.

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If you are looking for more articles and resources for Criminal Justice, take a look at these Giving Compass selections related to impact giving and Criminal Justice.

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
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    COVID-19 and Mass Decarceration

    Giving Compass' Take: • Deanna Van Buren and F. Javier Torres-Campos provide a bigger roadmap to coming up with solutions for mass decarceration during the COVID-19 pandemic.  • Are you ready to engage in decarceration efforts? What ongoing efforts could you support? • Read more about the dangers of COVID-19 in prisons.  With the highest incarceration rate in the world, US prisons and jails are drivers for the catastrophic outbreak of COVID-19. Because of dense living conditions, limited soap and hand sanitizer, poor access to quality healthcare, and an increasingly elderly population, the outbreaks we’ve seen so far may be just the beginning. It’s no surprise that hundreds of municipalities are already working to meet the crisis by reducing prison populations, whether by identifying those incarcerated for misdemeanors, near the end of their sentences, or with special risk (pregnant inmates, those over the age of 60, or with underlying medical conditions). But as exciting as these efforts are, this moment requires that we imagine something more than a temporary solution to this pandemic. Without a long-term plan for true decarceration, at a larger scale, and the necessary infrastructure to support both returning citizens and their communities, we will inevitably backslide and refill these institutions. We need visionary solutions crafted in collaboration with the communities most impacted. We believe that COVID-19 has amplified the desperate need for our systems to be radically reimagined. A beginner’s roadmap for those of us in positions of power and privilege: Question any impulse that prioritizes efficiency or profit at the expense of human life. Recognize and accommodate the costs of participation for community members, including things like childcare, elder care, meals, transportation, and accessible interpretation services. Compensate people for their time and intellectual and cultural capital. Remember that if a low-income resident is given a choice between attending an unpaid feedback session on a development project or going to the minimum-wage job they rely on to survive, they have no choice but to go to work. A simple solution would be to allocate resources that compensate community members for their intellectual contributions in the same way we compensate engineers for their expertise. Read the full article about COVID-19 and mass decarceration by Deanna Van Buren and F. Javier Torres-Campos at Stanford Social Innovation Review.


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