The Minnesota Freedom Fund is a non-profit organization that operates a

bail fund A bail fund is an organization, often charitable, community and volunteer-driven, or both, that collects money for the purpose of posting monetary bail for those in Prison, jail on Remand (detention), pre-trial detention. Recipients may include tho ...

. It was founded in 2016 and is based in the

U.S. city Most U.S. states and territories have at least two tiers of local government: counties and municipalities. Louisiana uses the term parish and Alaska uses the term borough for what the U.S. Census Bureau terms county equivalents in those state ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. The organization pays

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...

for people who have been arrested and are awaiting trial. Initially a small organization with a $100,000 in financial assets by 2017, the organization raised $40million in 2020, following the

murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...

. By May 2021, the organization had spent $19million largely on posting bail for local cases. Money returns to the organization when a person appears in court and it can be reallocated to other bail posts. The organization does not make bail determinations based on the types of crimes allegedly committed and the posting of bond is made without details of a particular case. Leaders of the organization have expressed support for the abolition of all bail fees.

History

Founding

The Minnesota Freedom Fund was founded in 2016 by Simon Cecil, a graduate student at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

who received a $5,000 grant through the university's

Carlson School of Management The Curtis L. Carlson School of Management is the business school of the University of Minnesota, a public research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Carlson School offers undergraduate and graduate degr ...

and a further $5,000 from a business competition, the Acara Challenge. By April 2017, the organization reported having posted bail for 33 people, all but two of whom had attended their trial. In 2018, the fund paid $9,464 across 113 bail cases. It raised $100,000 in the

fiscal year A fiscal year (also known as a financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. La ...

2017–2018 period.

Slow expansion

By March 2020, the group reported having provided bail money in 500 cases, including a limited number of

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detention centers. In early 2020, during the initial months of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota The COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota is part of an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the state of Minnesota. The first confirmed case was reported on March 6, 2020. Governor Tim Walz declared a state of emergency on March ...

, the group sought the release of more inmates, concerned about the virus spreading rapidly throughout the prison population. It removed its upper limit of $1,000 in bail payments. In May 2020, the organization's then executive director Tonja Honsey said that the average amount of money needed by recipients of the fund was $150. Bail amounts of $78, the surcharge cost of

Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,281,565, and was estimated to be 1,273,334 in 2024, making it the List of counties in ...

court fees, were also common. Prior to May 2020, the organization had one full-time employee.

George Floyd protests and aftermath

Following the

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

George Floyd George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd had used a counterfeit tw ...

on May 25, 2020, and the subsequent

protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

, the fund received $20million in donations over a four-day period, with public postings of donations to the group becoming popular on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. Several public figures and celebritiessuch as

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He starred as Michael Scott in the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2011, 2013), and also worked at several points as a producer, executive producer, writer, a ...

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, and

Seth Rogen Seth Aaron Rogen (; born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known primarily for his comedic Leading actor, leading man roles in films, the accolades he has received include nominations for three Golden Globe Awards, ...

were among those praising the organization's mission on social media. Publications such as ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' and ''

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'' published articles promoting bail funds and how to contribute. On June 2, 2020, the group temporarily suspended further donations, suggesting that visitors to their website donate to the non-profits Black Visions Collective, Reclaim the Block, Rebuild Lake Street, Northstar Health Collective, or West Broadway Business and Area Coalition. By September it had accumulated $35million in donations, and its total for 2020 reached $40million. The organization said that they would prioritize bail for people who had been detained in connection with the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests, riots, and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as Reactions to the mu ...

. Most of the people who were arrested during the late May and early June 2020 events in Minneapolis and Saint Paul were for curfew violations, and many were issued citations and quickly released. Around a dozen protesters had their bail posted by the Minnesota Freedom Fund, according its interim director, Greg Lewin. Among them, the organization posted the $75,000 bail for a 28-year old Saint Paul man who was charged with attempted

second-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excus ...

for allegedly firing gunshots at Minneapolis police officers who were patrolling East Lake Street during the overnight hours of May 31. About the large financial assets the organization amassed during protests following Floyd's murder, Jeffrey Clayton, executive director of the insurance company trade group American Bail Coalition, said later, "The purpose for what they got the money was not there."

Fund growth and distribution

The organization faced criticism on

in mid-2020 for its mostly White executive board, and the small proportion of its recent income which had been distributed. In mid-2021 it went through arbitration due to turmoil between staff and the board. Simon Cecil, the founder, formally cut ties with the organization on May 31. In September 2020, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' reported that 92% of people arrested in the locale within the fund's scope did not require monetary bail, and that the average bail paid by the group had increased from $342 to $13,195. In May 2021, the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

said that they had spent $19million of the money they received in 2020, but money returns to the organization when the people released on bail appear in court. The majority of their expenditures were local Minnesotan cases, but $4.5million went to the National Bail Fund Network. One recipient of money from the Minnesota Freedom Fund attested that it paid for his bail, legal fees, and to pay for property damage that he was charged with after a Black Lives Matter protest he attended. In 2020 and 2021, efforts in Minnesota were made to reduce inequities in the application of bail, but also to seek greater oversight of the Minnesota Freedom Fund. In December 2020, prosecutors in the Minnesota counties of Hennepin and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

stopped seeking bail for people charged with nonviolent felonies, which the use of bail had disproportionately effect on

people of color The term "person of color" (: people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is associated with, the United States. From th ...

. In the 2021 Minnesota Legislative Session, some lawmakers proposed legislation to require bail funds to make public the person or organization that posts bail for certain violent crimes, and to prohibit bail funds from posting bail for people charged with violent crimes or had a prior conviction for violent crime. By May 2021, the organization had distributed $19million for more than 900 criminal and immigration bonds. According to then-leader Greg Lewin in 2020, the bail fund "do not make determinations of bail support based on the crimes that individuals are alleged to have committed". Co-executive director Mirella Ceja-Orozco had said that the organization does not "judge whether the person had committed a crime or not because that's what the courts are for". The fund has drawn criticism for some of the people it bailed out. A 32-year-old man from Minneapolis who was bailed out of jail by the organization in July 2020 after an alleged assault, was charged in connection to another alleged assault in August. By August 2020, the organization had paid the $100,000 bail for a person accused of second-degree murder and the $350,000 bail for a person accused of sexual assault and kidnapping. In February 2021,

Attorney Michael O. Freeman criticized the organization for twice bailing out a man with pending charges for weapons and rioting charges, and a judge set a bail threshold for the man above what the organization typically pays. According to the ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...

'', the fund was also used to bail out people accused of violent crimes and people with prior convictions for sexual assault. A 29-year old man from Blaine, Minnesota, was arrested and charged by authorities for his role in several protests and riots in 2020. He twice had his bail paid for by the Minnesota Freedom Fund and was released from law enforcement custody. Authorities alleged that he was responsible for vandalizing a Minneapolis police station on August 15, 2020, possessing unauthorized weapons and damaging property inside the

Hennepin County Government Center Hennepin County Government Center is the courthouse and primary county government administration building for Hennepin County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located in Central, Minneapolis, downtown Minneapolis, the county seat of Hennep ...

building on October 15, 2020, and participating in a riot in downtown Minneapolis on December 31, 2020. The Minnesota Freedom Fund paid the $5,000 bail for the arrest on October 15, 2020, and the $60,000 bail for his arrest related to the December 31 riot. The man pled guilty to federal weapons charges in August 2021, stemming from investigations from his prior arrests. In June 2021, the organization posted bail for people arrested during the

Line 3 pipeline The Line 3 pipeline is an oil pipeline owned by the Canadian multinational pipeline and energy company, Enbridge. Operating since 1968, it runs mainly from Hardisty, Alberta, Canada all the way to Superior, Wisconsin, United States. Concerns ...

protests. In April 2023, CBS News reported that a suspect who had just been arrested as a suspect for setting a mosque on fire had had his bail for a previous arrest for suspected arson that had happened in 2021 paid for by the organization.

Policy positions

The organization supports abolition of bail fees. It believes that bail furthers poverty by keeping people in jail longer, resulting in job loss, and it promotes plea deals that can allow people to leave jail.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
2016 establishments in Minnesota Bail in the United States Organizations based in Minneapolis