A bail fund is an organization, often charitable, community and volunteer-driven, or both, that collects money for the purpose of posting monetary

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 those in

jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

pre-trial detention Pre-trial detention, also known as jail, preventive detention, provisional detention, or remand, is the process of detaining a person until their trial after they have been arrested and charged with an offence. A person who is on remand is ...

. Recipients may include those who cannot afford bail on their own or those who are in jail due to being arrested while

protesting 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 ...

. Community bail funds determine their own criteria for eligibility and amount of bail that they will support. As of 2024, there are over 90 community bail funds around the United States represented in the National Bail Fund Network. Bail funds are related to

bail reform 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 r ...

efforts, as by paying individual bails, funds help directly address the disparities in case outcomes faced by those in pre-trial detention who are unable to post bail. Being unable to pay bail, and thus staying in jail longer before trial, means that defendants who cannot afford bail may have issues with managing or keeping employment, childcare, housing, or mounting an effective defense in their case, leading to poorer case outcomes. The

Vera Institute of Justice The Vera Institute of Justice (originally the Vera Foundation) is a United States 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) nonprofit think tank focused on criminal justice reform. It was founded in 1961 in New York City. Founding Philanthropist Loui ...

found that in 2013 in New York, 54% of inmates who remained in jail until their cases were disposed could not afford their bail of $2500 or less. In 2020, the

Prison Policy Initiative The Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) is a criminal justice oriented American public policy think tank based in Easthampton, Massachusetts. It is a non-profit organization, designated 501(c)(3) by the IRS. It is the "leading public critic" of th ...

found that over half a million people were in jail or prison on pre-trial detention in the United States at any given time, many because they could not afford bail.

Operation

Though community bail funds vary in how they raise money, decide on applicant eligibility, and manage the logistics of posting bail, the basic principles are the same. Monetary bail is set after arrest as a guarantee to ensure that suspects return to court for trial. Bail is paid to the court as a deposit that is returned at the conclusion of a case. This means that bail funds that post bail receive the money back (minus fees) when the individual bailed out returns to court and completes their case, enabling the bail fund to reuse the money for another bail. Bail funds are differentiated from other methods of paying bail in that they are often unconnected to the individuals who receive bail. Simonson, J. (2017)
Bail nullification
Michigan Law Review, 115(5), p.599

History

United States

The history of bail funds dates back to the 1920s when the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

set up a bail fund to release people arrested under harsh

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

policies against people suspected of

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...

during the

First Red Scare The first Red Scare was a period during History of the United States (1918–1945), the early 20th-century history of the United States marked by a widespread fear of Far-left politics, far-left movements, including Bolsheviks, Bolshevism a ...

. Bail funds also supported people fighting against

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of human ...

and other racist laws in the Jim Crow South during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. In 2012, New York passed the only law related to bail funds in the United States when it legalized charitable bail funds that posted bails of $2000 or less, which led to the revival of

The Bronx Freedom Fund The Bronx Freedom Fund is a nonprofit bail fund located in the South Bronx. The first charitable bail organization in New York State, it provides bail assistance to indigent defendants facing pretrial detention for low-level and misdemeanor charg ...

and the creation of the Brooklyn Bail Fund. During 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 ...

of 2020, bail funds mobilized millions of dollars to free protestors and community members.

Operation

History

United States

See also

References

Further reading