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    eoghan01Michael Harriot
    5/11/17 4:57pm

    Do you know if there are datasets about bail bonds? For example, a place where someone could go to see how much was required of different defendants?

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      Wind Makes Fire Danceeoghan01
      5/11/17 5:41pm

      I bet that there are some on the ACLU website. I was just scanning through there this morning looking for stats on women incarcerated for violent offenses, and I know that I saw some information about bail bonds and women broken down by race.

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      Michael Harrioteoghan01
      5/11/17 6:52pm

      https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/prfdsc.pdf

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    ThirdAmendmentManMichael Harriot
    5/11/17 5:21pm

    Most people in the country don’t even understand the theoretical point of bail anyways: to ensure that people show up to court. They think it’s a punishment for getting arrested. I think The Root (or another Gawker blog but I’m going to assume it was y’all) posted the study that something like 70% of people in Texas state prisons are there because they can’t make bail. That’s not the fucking point of bail!

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      ZabellaThirdAmendmentMan
      5/11/17 6:25pm

      I think The Root (or another Gawker blog but I’m going to assume it was y’all) posted the study that something like 70% of people in Texas state prisons are there because they can’t make bail.

      Just pointing out a paragraph from the story you might have missed:

      In fact, 70 percent of the people in jail have never been convicted of a crime, and most of the people in any county jail are not there because of how detrimental to society their alleged crimes were—it is simply because of how poor they are.

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      ThirdAmendmentManZabella
      5/11/17 6:31pm

      Yeah I was kind of reading while cooking so I must have missed it. I know it had been reported recently. Thanks for calling it out (seriously).

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    TheBlightOfGreyMichael Harriot
    5/11/17 4:32pm

    There’s a disturbing trend that everyone who does manage to post bail has to wear an ankle bracelet now. Even for petty misdemeanors. They charge you like $100 a week for it because they have to monitor you and make sure that you’re not going near a liquor store, retail store, school, etc. Complete bullshit. Only high level felons should be required to wear an ankle monitor. They’re a joke anyway. You can just cut it off and walk. Sure a warrant goes out, but whatever. Then people get in debt for the bracelet and the prison industrial complex wins again. The only state with a fair bail system I have seen is Alaska where the State runs the whole process and let’s the defendant post 10%. If they skip they or their family or whoever signed for it is on the hook for the remainder.

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    "Hachi"Michael Harriot
    5/11/17 4:53pm

    Michael -thank you for an in-depth look at the system profiting off of Black people and other POC. Nothing to add except that I appreciate this kind of journalism that shines a light on the outright oppression we tend to ignore.

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