America’s justice system runs on the exchange of money for freedom. Some say that’s unfair. But can data fix it?
Allowing people to pay for their release has proved unfair to people who don’t have much money. The poor are far more likely to get stuck in jail, which makes them far more likely to get fired from jobs, lose custody of children, plead guilty to something they didn’t do, serve time in prison and suffer the lifelong consequences of a criminal conviction. Those who borrow from a bail bondsman often fall into crippling debt. At the same time, the wealthy can buy their way out of pretrial detention on just about any offense, including murder.
The bald inequity of this system has triggered a national movement to eliminate bail altogether.
But what to replace it with?
Click HERE to find out how many states like Arizona are giving data a whirl.
