Sen. Gillibrand seeks to eliminate current cash bail system

<p>Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is calling for legislation that would eliminate the current cash bail system ahead of the expected Congress vote on criminal justice reform.</p>

News 12 Staff

Dec 16, 2018, 10:21 PM

Updated 1,969 days ago

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Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is calling for legislation that would eliminate the current cash bail system ahead of the expected Congress vote on criminal justice reform.
The bail system is not a part of the First Step Act which, if passed in Monday's Congressional vote, will retroactively reduce the disparity between crack and cocaine sentences, ease mandatory minimums and increase the credits well-behaved inmates can put toward early release.
That's why Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is proposing a bill called the "No Cash Bail Act."
In a statement, Gillibrand said, "There are thousands of New Yorkers sitting in jail right now simply because they cannot pay their bail. We should not be locking people up just because they don't have the financial means to afford their bail."
Civil rIghts Attorney Fred Brewington says cash bail disproportionately affects the poor and people of color.
"We have implicit bias that does exist--a judge may look at a person and evaluate them based on what they look like and not necessarily on factors that are related to whether or not they'll be returning to court."
Gotterher says “here at home things must change to have a fairer system.”
According to the ACLU, the for-profit bail industry makes between $1.4 to $2 billion each year.


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