Who Gets Bail? A Deep Dive Into Disparities in Pretrial Release
Author: Saivi Nandamuri
“Bail is set to $10,000,” the judge orders with a sharp bang of her gavel, “next case.” The judge moves on, while the defendant stays stuck in time, halted on the unreachable escape presented to him. Everyday countless defendants are on the receiving end of injustice and are unfairly kept in custody. Most of which are people of color, and people in lower financial classes. The importance put onto monetary bail has a prominent place in keeping the cycle of poverty and incarceration flowing. It increases the amount of pretrial custody, which has been proven to result in the individual’s return to the courtroom and crime, after the case.
A condition of release that is often given is supervision, whether it’s for a few hours or the entire day. This is one way that release can become unequal. For many people, having an available support group of close family and friends can be taken for granted. Oftentimes, we don’t realize the risks of not having one. Frequently, people with limited incomes are friends with people in the same circumstances. For this reason, they may not have close friends or family that are able to take time off from work in order to supervise or overall help them. When the accused person can’t meet this requirement, they aren’t able to be released. People that are wealthy almost always are able to find people, which ensures that they’re able to go back into society.
The predominant reason for bail becoming unattainable, however, is because of the immense gap between incomes. Non-incarcerated people, people in prison, and people in jail all have highly varied financial situations. The difference of median pre-incarceration incomes between all men in jails–that are unable to afford bail–compared to their non-incarcerated counterparts is 61%. For women, the difference is 51%. The highest gap is with Black men, of 64%. Even people in prison have higher incomes on average compared to people in jail. Additionally, there’s a higher percentage of people in jail with lower incomes compared to non-incarcerated people. 37% of incarcerated people make less than $9,489. Comparing this with 20% of non-incarcerated people shows the difference in who is being affected the most. On the opposite side, only 19% of incarcerated people make above $31,665, while 50% of non-incarcerated people make higher than this same amount. Monetary bail overlooks these statistics, all of which should instead be key in determining release. The situations of the majority shouldn’t be ignored for the exceptions that are able to pay for bail.
Community bail funds are one important way to correct this issue. These are organizations that aid people that aren’t able to pay for bail. However, this doesn’t fix the core part of the issue. The end of financial bail would be the ideal solution, though it doesn’t seem likely to occur. The next best answer is courtwatching. Courtwatching holds people in power accountable, and shines a light onto groups that are normally not seen. People of color and lower income people are often unjustly treated, especially in the legal system, but courtwatchers act as a shield to this. Courtwatches are able to see when bail is unfair to the defendant and are able to be their voice against it.
Bail can often be a way for the rich to escape their crimes, while the poor are forced to fight theirs–whether or not they’re true. It neglects the needs of the people it affects, and ultimately leads to a more criminal society. By focusing on the very issues people disregard, lawmakers have the ability to minimize the amount of people in the criminal justice system. Despite the complications prevalent in bail, the justice system has the power to be truly equitable. With the help of honest contributors, together, we can make courtrooms across the world truly fair and bring the world the justice it deserves.
Sources
Perez, C. (2023, March 19). The criminalization of poverty in pretrial detention hearings. The Criminalization of Poverty in Pretrial Detention Hearings | Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy | Georgetown Law. https://www.law.georgetown.edu/poverty-journal/blog/the-criminalization-of-poverty-in-pretrial-detention-hearings/
Rabuy, B., & Kopf, D. (2016, May 10). Detaining the poor: How money bail perpetuates an endless cycle of poverty and Jail Time. Detaining the Poor: How money bail perpetuates an endless cycle of poverty and jail time | Prison Policy Initiative. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/incomejails.html
Fawbush, J. (2025, March 10). Bail funds: What are they and how do they work?. Bail Funds: What Are They and How Do They Work? | Law Info. https://www.lawinfo.com/resources/criminal-defense/criminal-procedure/bail-funds-what-are-they-and-how-do-they-work.html
Milem, H. (2023, April 25). Virtual Court Access: Why Courtwatch programs matter and what they need to succeed. Virtual Court Access: Why Courtwatch Programs Matter and What They Need to Succeed | Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy | Georgetown Law. https://www.law.georgetown.edu/poverty-journal/blog/virtual-court-access-why-courtwatch-programs-matter-and-what-they-need-to-succeed/#:~:text=Courtwatch%20programs%20are%20one%20item,Courtwatch%20PG%20collect%20this%20information
