Blog Archives - Roosevelt @ GWU

It’s Time to End Money Bail in America

6/7/2020

By: Sean Ruddy

Over the last week millions of dollars have been donated to help protesters marching against police brutality post bail. The Minnesota Freedom Fund received so many donations that it actually stopped asking for any more funds. While this outcry of support has been inspiring we should stop and ask: Why do we still require money bail?
For those that are unaware the United States often requires that someone booked for a crime must provide a monetary payment before being released as a guarantee that they will show up for any court appearances. Similar to a deposit, this payment is either given back once the person attends their hearing or is forfeited to the government. Bail amounts differ by judge decree but are usually similar across equivalent offenses. The practice has become increasingly common, with an ACLU report from 2017 finding that the number of arrests that required money bail rose from 37 percent to 61 percent in the twenty year period between 1990 and 2009.
While the system may not seem that problematic at first glance, this ignores the semi-obvious problem that not everyone can pay bail. Analysis from the Prison Policy Initiative found that while bail is typically $10,000 for felonies, the median annual pre-incarceration income of those in local jails is only $15,109. Bail is lower for misdemeanors but even small amounts can be unpayable for the most cash-strapped individuals and awaiting trial behind bars can take a large psychological toil. Unable to pay bail, many are forced into the only "solutions" provided- bail bonds. These predatory agreements provide a defendant with money to post bail, but requires the full amount plus a premium equal to about 10 to 15 percent of the bail bonds total value is repaid in full after the Court date. Unlike normal bail these premiums aren't refundable, making those who are already financially vulnerable even worse off. Failure to pay back a bail bond in full can carry excessive consequences, as individuals can be chased down by bounty hunters, have their wages or tax returns garnished or can, ironically, be arrested. Yet as bail bonds have been ruinous for individuals it has become a booming industry, with $14 billion in bail bonds issued annually and industry raking in a yearly profit of $2 billion.
The revenue gained by the government from money bail may also worsen police brutality problems. While every jurisdiction uses these funds differently, some redirect revenues generated from the forfeiture of bail money into police state budgets. Jurisdictions with larger African American populations tend to gain more of their revenue from these types of fees, a phenomena that is seemingly not explained by differences in criminality or poverty rates. For example, in 2012 Ferguson Missouri gained $2 million or about 13 percent of its total government revenue from fines and fees, such as revenue from bail.
The problems with money bail aren’t just economic. Much like every facet of our criminal justice system, money bail is riddled with biases and discriminations against communities of color. African American and Hispanic men pay significantly higher bail amounts than white men, paying 35 percent and 19 percent more respectively. Jurisdictions with larger African American populations tend to gain more of their revenue from bail bonds, and these revenues can be used to help police budgets. Communities of color are also overrepresented in the pretrial jail population (a.k.a the population of people in local jails awaiting trial and have not been convicted of any crimes). African Americans represent 43 percent of the pretrial jail population despite composing about 12 percent of the US population and Hispanics represent almost 20 percent of the pretrial population despite only being about 13 percent of the population.
It is time that we stop conflating pretrial convictions with socio-economic status. In a system where Justice is meant to be blind, money bail represents another way that race, money, and privilege stack the deck against communities of color and the financially vulnerable. No one should be deterred from making their voices heard because they can’t afford bail. This isn’t a new or revolutionary idea, DC has restricted the use of money bail since 1992 with no issues. Several other states and localities including California, New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia have taken steps to phase out money bail without experiencing sharp declines in court appearance rates. It's time for the rest of the country to do the same and for America to end money bail.

Food Insecurity in the Time of Covid-19

6/3/2020

By: Matthew Allen

The Covid-19 crisis has disrupted so many of the things in our everyday lives, including one of the most fundamental: food. At the same time that we’re seeing shortages in grocery stores, we’re seeing surpluses on farms. Surpluses so large that farmers are crushing eggs, dumping milk, and, in a shocking case in Idaho, burying one million onions, all because they know they won’t be able to sell them. This problem of too much food where it’s not needed, and too little where it is, is a result of the inability of our supply chain to adapt. While our food distribution system is normally quite efficient, it relies on predictability. As a result of Covid-19, many of the biggest buyers of food, such as restaurants and school cafeterias, have closed. The chain has struggled to shift from supplying about half of all food to establishments such as this, to now bringing almost all of it to grocery stores. And this is exacerbated by the fact that distribution requires labor, and most workers are being told to stay home. As a result, we’re seeing farmers struggling to make a simple living, while also seeing grocery stores struggling just to stock shelves, and, in some of our more densely populated centers, limits to customers on how much of one item they can buy. In addition to creating difficulties for consumers, these shortages are also having a huge effect on our food banks. Food banks typically relied upon grocery stores for a significant portion of their total donations, but, now that grocery stores have less and less left over on the shelves, food banks have seen a 35% reduction in donations from the retail sector. This comes at a particularly difficult time when unemployment is at its second-highest in our nation’s history, and a time when millions of children who would typically be receiving free meals at their schools no longer are. In 2018, there were about 37 million food insecure people in the United States. That number is much, much, higher now due to several factors. The first of which is a massive increase in unemployment, the second worst in American history. In addition, there are higher prices for food due to a huge spike in demand from panic-buying and hoarding. There are also even more mobility issues for seniors, 5.5 million of which were already food insecure before this crisis. Since they are one of the populations at highest risk, public transportation, which- for many- is the only option, becomes very dangerous. As a result of all of this, Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks, estimates there will be an increase of between 4.1 million and 17.1 million in individuals who are food insecure because of the Covid-19 crisis. In a time as uniquely challenging as this, everyone has difficulties and problems, whether that is having to stay at home for several months or having to leave college early. But for far too many Americans, it’s a matter of whether or not they’ll be able to put food on the table for themselves and their families that night. During this crisis, it’s even more important than usual that we remember those who need our help, both as a national community and as individuals. Our government should be doing more to ensure a steady food supply, such as financing the payroll of food distribution companies; and to help those who are unemployed, such as by canceling payments like student loan debt and rent. But we as individuals also need to take responsibility to not take up more food than we need from grocery stores, and to make donations to our local food banks. In this time of crisis, we need to come together as Americans to make sure that, while a disease can disrupt our everyday lives, it doesn’t keep people from being able to feed themselves and their families.