“The reason why these men are in chains in the St. Louis Workhouse is because they are poor. Every lawyer in St. Louis knows this to be a fact. Probably many of them are innocent, but certainly every one of them is ‘broke’. There would be no more chance of a man with money having chains put on him in the St. Louis…
California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Tuesday that will make his state the first in the nation to abolish cash bail for suspects awaiting trial. But what looks like a victory for criminal justice reform on the outside is actually an opening for a new system of inequality.
In a bold attempt to correct a major flaw in America’s criminal (in)justice system, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced a bill Wednesday that would end cash bail at the federal level and incentivize states that follow suit.
Timothy C. Evans, chief judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill., announced Monday that Cook County judges will be required to set affordable monetary bonds for defendants who do not pose a danger to the public.
