Created Equal
New Jersey becomes Ground Zero in national bail reform movement
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Ground zero of bail reform: New Jersey finding both benefits and kinks from reformed system. But officials praise “clearer, fairer” process.
Ground zero of bail reform: New Jersey finding both benefits and kinks from reformed system. But officials praise “clearer, fairer” process.
In Maryland, the struggle over bail reform has moved to the state legislature, where all the obstacles to changing the longstanding system are on full display.
Maryland’s attorney general is out to reform the bail system there. But the bail bond industry has raised up in opposition, spreading its message and money to legislators.
As Cook County and other jurisdictions around the country struggle over bail reform, New Orleans adopts ordinance: No cash bail for most minor crimes. City Council passage breaks bottleneck caused, in part, by opposition from bail bond industry.
An ordinance in rural Arkansas has fueled a lawsuit over the town’s effort to prohibit inexpensive trailer parks from within city borders. The suit raises the issue: Can a community pass laws to kick poor people out?
Across the country, efforts to reform bail have run headlong into opposition from the bail bond industry. The bondsmen, it turns out, have considerable political muscle.
After solitary led to suicides and other horrific incidents, Pennsylvania this month made major changes. Illinois legislators will get their chance at similar reform later this year.