Sam Bankman Fried released on bail. The system works! 😃 Because bail is not designed to keep guilty or dangerous people off the streets and in jail. Bail is designed to keep *poor* people in jail.
"Jeffrey Dahmer, enters the room without cuffs?!
How the hell do we get stuffed
In the back of a cell on the isle
Ain't it wild?
What's 'criminal?'"
- Chuck D, Public Enemy, "Hazy Shade of Criminal" 1992
"The isle" is Riker's Island. Most people on Rikers are there for pre-trial detention.
In fact, the more dangerous a criminal is (connected to organized crime, extreme wealth, etc), the more likely they are to be able to afford bail.
🙂🙃
The people least likely to afford bail, are poor people, with no connections to criminal organizations, but high probability of being falsely arrested and charged. If you guessed "poor Black people," give yourself 10 points!
1. The US locks up more people than any other nation.
2. Most of these people are innocent. I didn't say "not guilty." I said "innocent." As in, under normal circumstances, there would not even be enough evidence to even charge these people with a crime. The only reason they're charged, is because the DA knows that they can't afford bail, and people that can't afford bail will confess to crimes that they didn't do. Happens every day.
3. People caught in this trap are disproportionately Black
Imagine you are a Black man with a wife and 2 kids living in the Bronx. You and your wife both earn minimum wage. You've never been arrested, never committed a crime, don't do drugs, never been in a gang.
One day, you're arrested and falsely accused of a crime. You're sent to Rikers. There is definitive proof that you were somewhere else at the time of the crime. DA says they're going to charge you. You can't afford bail, or an attorney.
You'll be in jail for up to *2 years* prior to trial.
@mekkaokereke I thought that typically speedy trial statutes require that, upon defendant's request, trial will start within 6 months. Wikipedia claims that NY (I assume state of NY) has such a statute. Is it something that cannot be relied upon?
