The Bail Project Works to Transform America's Pre-Trial System

 The popularity of true-crime podcasts has had the unintended consequence of identifying deficit areas in our criminal justice system. One of those areas is our Bail system. Just as true-time podcasts have identified the unacceptable numbers of innocent people in prison, these podcasts have spotlighted a system where wealth dominates over innocence and fairness.

In his work leading communications at The Bail Project, Jeremy Cherson notes: "We’ve been thinking a lot about the narrative side of this—particularly how some true-crime content can unintentionally amplify fear of crime, even as it exposes real systemic failures. Your framing helped sharpen that tension in a really useful way."

The Bail Project is a national nonprofit working to transform America’s pretrial system by eliminating reliance on cash bail and proving that a more humane, equitable, and effective pretrial system is possible. 

Every night in America, nearly half a million people sleep in jail cells – not because they’ve been convicted of anything, but because they cannot afford to buy their freedom before trial. In the country that calls itself “the land of the free,” the presumption of innocence collapses under the cash bail system: the wealthy walk free, while everyone else disappears into a cage.

Even short periods of pretrial detention can trigger cascading harm – loss of employment, disrupted medical care, housing instability, and separation from children. These consequences don’t just affect individuals; they destabilize entire families and communities. In many cases, this disruption increases the likelihood of future legal entanglement, perpetuating cycles of incarceration rather than preventing them.
Beyond its human cost, the system is also fiscally inefficient. Taxpayers spend an estimated $14 billion annually to detain people who have not been convicted of a crime, resources that could otherwise be directed toward more effective public safety measures.

 Jeremy Cherson says: We provide free bail assistance and pretrial support to thousands of low-income people each year while advancing policy change at the local, state, and national levels. Since our founding, The Bail Project has supported over 40,000 people navigating the pretrial system, which includes nearly 35,000 individuals whose release we secured by posting bail and providing supportive services such as court reminders and transportation assistance." 

With this support, those clients returned to court 92% of the time, proving that support – not wealth – is what makes the system work. The Bail Project has also provided supportive services through pilot programs to more than 6,000 people, ensuring that both wealth and access to support are never barriers to fairness in the pretrial process. 

For decades, the debate around public safety and cash bail has rested on a false premise: that charging money for pretrial freedom keeps us safe. But real public safety doesn’t come from punishing poverty – it comes from building a justice system focused on risk, not wealth.

Jurisdictions across the United States have passed bail reform, and the data is clear: bail reform creates safer communities. After Illinois eliminated cash bail, violent crime fell by seven percent and property crime by 14 percent. In New Jersey, reforms cut violent crime by 20 percent while court appearance rates stayed high. In Harris County, Texas, ending cash bail for most misdemeanors showed no link to increased crime. A nationwide study by the Brennan Center for Justice looked at nearly two dozen jurisdictions that reformed cash bail and found the same thing: no link between bail reform and increases in crime.

Equating reform with being “soft on crime” ignores both the evidence and the reality that a smarter, fairer system can hold people accountable while making communities safer.

Jeremy Cherson adds: "Bail reform should replace a wealth-based system with one grounded in safety, fairness, and evidence. Pretrial decisions should focus on whether someone poses a genuine risk – not on their ability to pay. For the vast majority of cases, that means release to await trial at home, without financial conditions."

In more serious situations, courts should conduct individualized hearings to assess risk using clear, transparent standards. Pretrial detention should be a last resort, used only when no conditions can reasonably ensure public safety or court appearance.

Reform should also shift away from punitive financial requirements toward practical, supportive measures that improve outcomes. Simple interventions – like court date reminders, transportation assistance, and connections to mental health or social services – are more effective at reducing missed appearances and promoting stability.

The goal is a system that protects communities while upholding fairness and minimizing unnecessary disruption to people’s lives.

 Learn more at bailproject.org.