From "Resetting Bail—the Price of Justice in New York City"
Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
New York City is taking a hard look at our bail system at a time when there is new energy for reform: in the last year, bail has been taken up in late-night comedy sketches from John Oliver, impassioned speeches by Attorney General Loretta Lynch, a dedicated reality TV show on bail bondsmen in New York City, and in-depth investigative reporting by the news and other media.
Join the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and the Vera Institute of Justice in an engaging discussion about the way our City’s bail system works, strategies for making it more fair and effective, and the pioneering practices already in place to inspire enduring change.
New York’s recent bail reform law, which was passed in April 2019 and amended on July 2, 2020, was expected to reduce the footprint of jail incarceration by limiting the use of money bail. The new law mandated pretrial release for the vast majority of nonviolent charges and required that judges consider a person’s ability to pay bail. A comprehens ...
For decades, people incarcerated in Los Angeles County’s deadliest jail have feared for their lives. With the death toll mounting, advocates are pushing to finally end the cycle of violence.
Nelson is currently working toward that goal at DPN, connecting with families impacted by MCJ and the terror of the sheriff’s deputies. “You’ve got so many families out here thinking that they had to fight up against this sheriff’s department by themselves. They feel powerless. So, we connect with family members,” Nelson said. Slowly, they are win ...
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 ...