The problem with the U.S. bail system - Camilo Ramirez
-
0:07 - 0:12Since 2000, the annual number of people
convicted of crimes in the United States -
0:12 - 0:18has stayed steady, but the average number
of people in jail each year has shot up. -
0:18 - 0:19How can that be?
-
0:19 - 0:22The answer lies in the bail system—
-
0:22 - 0:25which isn’t doing
what it was intended to do. -
0:25 - 0:29The term "bail" refers to the release
of people awaiting trial -
0:29 - 0:33on condition that they return
to court to face charges. -
0:33 - 0:37Countries around the world
use many variations of bail, -
0:37 - 0:39and some don’t use it at all.
-
0:39 - 0:44The U.S. bail system relies primarily
on what’s called cash bail, -
0:44 - 0:47which was supposed to work like this:
-
0:47 - 0:49When a person was accused of a crime,
-
0:49 - 0:52the judge would set
a reasonable price for bail. -
0:52 - 0:55The accused would pay this fee
in order to be released from jail -
0:55 - 0:58until the court reached
a verdict on the case. -
0:58 - 1:02Once the case ended,
whether found guilty or innocent, -
1:02 - 1:06they’d get the bail money back
if they made all their court appearances. -
1:06 - 1:10The rationale behind this system
is that under U.S. law, -
1:10 - 1:13people are presumed innocent
until proven guilty— -
1:13 - 1:17so someone accused of a crime
should not be imprisoned -
1:17 - 1:19unless they’ve been convicted of a crime.
-
1:19 - 1:22But today, the bail system in the U.S.
-
1:22 - 1:24doesn’t honor the presumption
of innocence. -
1:24 - 1:29Instead, it subverts peoples’ rights
and causes serious harm, -
1:29 - 1:32particularly to people
in low-income communities -
1:32 - 1:34and communities of color.
-
1:34 - 1:37A key reason why is the cost of bail.
-
1:37 - 1:40In order for cash bail
to work as intended, -
1:40 - 1:43the price has to be affordable
for the accused. -
1:43 - 1:47The cost of bail wasn’t meant to reflect
the likelihood of someone’s guilt— -
1:47 - 1:51when bail is set, the court
has not reviewed evidence. -
1:51 - 1:56Under exceptional circumstances,
such as charges of very serious crimes, -
1:56 - 2:01judges could deny bail
and jail the accused before their trial. -
2:01 - 2:05Judges were supposed to exercise
this power very rarely, -
2:05 - 2:08and could come under scrutiny
for using it too often. -
2:08 - 2:12Setting unaffordably high bail
became a second path -
2:12 - 2:15to denying people pretrial release.
-
2:15 - 2:20Judges' personal discretion
and prejudices played a huge role -
2:20 - 2:22in who they chose to detain this way.
-
2:22 - 2:28Bail amounts climbed higher and higher,
and more and more defendants couldn’t pay— -
2:28 - 2:30so they stayed in jail.
-
2:30 - 2:32By the late 19th century,
-
2:32 - 2:37these circumstances led to the rise
of commercial bail bond companies. -
2:37 - 2:43They pay a defendant’s bail, in exchange
for a hefty fee the company keeps. -
2:43 - 2:47Today, the median bail is $10,000—
-
2:47 - 2:51a prohibitively high price
for almost half of Americans, -
2:51 - 2:54and as many as nine out of ten defendants.
-
2:54 - 2:56If the defendant can’t pay,
-
2:56 - 3:01they may apply for a loan
from a commercial bail bond company. -
3:01 - 3:05It’s completely up to the company
to decide whose bail they’ll pay. -
3:05 - 3:07They choose defendants they think
will pay them back, -
3:07 - 3:12turning a profit of about
$2 billion each year. -
3:12 - 3:14In fact, in the past 20 years,
-
3:14 - 3:20pretrial detention has been the main
driver of jail growth in America. -
3:20 - 3:22Every year, hundreds of thousands
of people -
3:22 - 3:28who can’t afford bail or secure a loan
stay in jail until their case is resolved. -
3:28 - 3:32This injustice disproportionately affects
Americans who are Black and Latino, -
3:32 - 3:35for whom judges often set higher bail
-
3:35 - 3:39than for white people accused
of the same offenses. -
3:39 - 3:43Unaffordable bail puts even innocent
defendants in an impossible position. -
3:43 - 3:47Some end up pleading guilty to crimes
they did not commit. -
3:47 - 3:52For minor offenses, the prosecution
may offer a deal that credits time -
3:52 - 3:55already spent in jail toward
the accused’s sentence -
3:55 - 3:57if they plead guilty.
-
3:57 - 4:02Often, the time they’ve already spent in
jail is the total length of the sentence, -
4:02 - 4:07and they can go home immediately—
but they leave with a criminal record. -
4:07 - 4:09Defending their innocence, meanwhile,
-
4:09 - 4:13can mean staying in jail indefinitely
awaiting trial— -
4:13 - 4:16and doesn’t guarantee
an innocent verdict. -
4:16 - 4:19Bail may not even be necessary
in the first place. -
4:19 - 4:24Washington, D.C. largely abolished
cash bail in the 1990s. -
4:24 - 4:30In 2017, the city released 94%
of defendants without holding bail money, -
4:30 - 4:35and 88% of them returned
to all their court dates. -
4:35 - 4:38The nonprofit organization,
The Bail Project, -
4:38 - 4:42provides free bail assistance to thousands
of low-income people every year, -
4:42 - 4:47removing the financial incentive
that bail is designed to create. -
4:47 - 4:51The result? People come back
to 90% of their court dates -
4:51 - 4:53without having any money on the line,
-
4:53 - 4:56and those who miss their court dates
tended to -
4:56 - 5:01because of circumstances like child care,
work conflicts, or medical crises. -
5:01 - 5:06Studies have also found that holding
people in jail before trial, -
5:06 - 5:08often because they cannot
afford cash bail, -
5:08 - 5:14actually increases the likelihood
of rearrests and reoffending. -
5:14 - 5:17The damage of incarcerating people
before their trials -
5:17 - 5:22extends to entire communities
and can harm families for generations. -
5:22 - 5:26People who are incarcerated
can lose their livelihoods, homes, -
5:26 - 5:28and access to essential services—
-
5:28 - 5:32all before they’ve been convicted
of a crime. -
5:32 - 5:34It’s also incredibly expensive:
-
5:34 - 5:39American taxpayers spend
nearly $14 billion every year -
5:39 - 5:43incarcerating people
who are legally presumed innocent. -
5:43 - 5:46This undermines the promise
of equal justice under the law, -
5:46 - 5:49regardless of race or wealth.
-
5:49 - 5:53The issues surrounding cash bail
are symptomatic of societal problems, -
5:53 - 5:57like structural racism and over-reliance
on incarceration, -
5:57 - 5:58that need to be addressed.
-
5:58 - 6:01In the meantime,
reformers like The Bail Project -
6:01 - 6:05are working to help people trapped
by cash bail -
6:05 - 6:09and to create a more just and humane
pretrial system for the future.
- Title:
- The problem with the U.S. bail system - Camilo Ramirez
- Speaker:
- Camilo Ramirez
- Description:
-
View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-problem-with-the-u-s-bail-system-camilo-ramirez
Since 2000, the annual number of people convicted of crimes in the United States has stayed steady, but the average number of people in jail each year has shot up. How can that be? The answer lies in the bail system— which isn't doing what it was intended to do. Camilo Ramirez details how the cash bail system disproportionally hurts people in low-income communities and communities of color.
Lesson by Camilo Ramirez, directed by Patrick Smith.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 06:10
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Tara Ahmadinejad edited English subtitles for The problem with the U.S. bail system | ||
Tara Ahmadinejad edited English subtitles for The problem with the U.S. bail system | ||
Tara Ahmadinejad edited English subtitles for The problem with the U.S. bail system |