I spoke with about what SBF’s release on bail says about a system where the vast majority of people are jailed. Full article here: latimes.com/california/sto [1/8]
Conversation
Replying to
As I said in the article, “If we’re comfortable releasing somebody accused of a crime of this magnitude, that should really make us question why we’re locking so many people in jail pending trial who are accused of far less serious crimes.” [2/8]
1
1
9
SBF’s release on a $250 million bond underscores the deep inequities of a federal pretrial jailing system that hits poor people and people of color the hardest. 90% of federal arrestees can’t afford a lawyer, let alone pay their way out of jail. [3/8]
1
3
9
Jailing people simply because they can’t make bail violates federal law. My Clinic’s Freedom Denied report found that federal judges jail people who are too poor to pay for their freedom in a staggering 36% of cases with $ conditions. Report here: freedomdenied.law.uchicago.edu. [4/8]
1
8
13
We also found that judges disproportionately jail people of color for poverty. 95% of the time when federal judges imposed a secured bond, the arrestee was a person of color. Unlike SBF, many were not released. [5/8]
1
1
8
Prosecutors bear the blame for these inequities, too. Federal prosecutors ask judges to lock 74% of people in jail pre-trial—they request jailing in 3 out of 4 cases. Yet prosecutors begged the judge to release SBF, accused of “stealing billions of dollars.” [6/8]
1
2
5
The right question isn’t, should SBF go free? Rather we should ask why 118,000 human beings—most of whom are poor people of color—are currently locked in jail pre-trial in the federal system. [7/8]
1
6
Despite his huge bond, SBF was set free when most people are jailed. Prosecutors must stop asking for financial conditions of release that people can’t afford, and federal judges must stop illegally jailing people when they can’t pay. [8/8]
5