From "Bail Stories," co-produced by the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice and the Vera Institute of Justice.
A look at how bail, fines, and fees in the criminal justice system impact poor communities in New Orleans
The New Orleans criminal justice system, like many other local systems across the country, operates significantly on funding generated from the people cycling through it—from bail and associated fees before trial, to fines and fees levied after conviction. These practices come with hidden costs to defendants—the majority of whom are poor and black— ...
official court transcripts October 1961-June 1962
The Manhattan Bail Project was Vera’s first initiative and showed that many people accused of committing a crime can be relied on to appear in court and do not have to post bail or be held until trial. Read the transcripts from arraignment hearings at which New York City judges considered the recommendations Vera made in the early days of the Manh ...
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, nationwide calls for reallocation of law enforcement budgets forced elected leaders to consider the values underlying their budgetary choices. But discussions largely remained limited to policing. Few major U.S. cities took a hard look at the billions invested in their increasingly vacant jails ...