Over the years, the bail reform movement has shifted its message from one thing to another. Like throwing spaghetti at the wall, the activists and proponents experiment different talking points and messaging frantically searching for anything that sticks to support their misguided anti-bail ideology. But there have been three messages that seem to always rise to the top and stand the test of time. And we have continued to see these messages used regardless of the countless studies, articles and research that disprove them all. The #3 most used bail reform lie is below. To see the full list of the top three most used bail reform lies click on the link below.
#3 Most Used Bail Reform Lie
Releasing defendants on Zero Bail is just as effective as releasing them on a financially secured bond
Zero Bail, or Free Release as we like to refer to it, is one of the recommended solutions of bail reform activists. They claim that releasing a defendant on simply a promise to appear will increase public safety. They have even manufactured research studies that show public safety increasing the more people you let out for free. Just recently, one of these manufactured studies was released in Los Angeles County. The result, letting more people out of jail for free has resulted in less crime. That being said, the report also shows that arrests increased at the same time that crime was down. Don’t worry, if you think that doesn’t make any sense, it’s because it doesn’t. In fact, it goes against all common sense. It is researched designed to support a desired outcome…eliminate bail and everything will be better.
Unfortunately, we have all seen that movie before and have been living with the results of these soft on crime policies for the last several years. And just for the record, things are not as hunky dory as the study claims they are.
Our conclusion on talking point #3… FALSE.
#2 Most Used Bail Reform Lie
Evidenced based risk assessments are valuable tools that are able to predict the future behavior of a defendant
Bail reform activists love shiny new toys. And one of their shiniest newest toys is the “so called” evidenced based risk assessments. These short 10 question surveys, for lack of a better way of putting it, are supposedly capable of predicting the future behavior of an accused individual. Sounds like science fiction, huh? Well, the problem with these risk assessments is that they are complete “junk science.” They are only as good as the data that goes into them, and the data that goes into them is deficient in many ways. It is incomplete, it is inaccurate and based on actual research studies done on risk assessments, it has been shown that they are racially biased to say the least. When the California legislature tried to implement risk assessments as part of proposition 25 in 2020, 27 researchers from some of the most prestigious universities in the country, denounced risk assessments as “flawed.” Additionally, a 2017 report out of the AI Institute at NYU warned public agencies to stay away from risk assessments and their “black box” algorithms because they were racially biased.
Our conclusion on talking point #2… FALSE.
#1 Most Used Bail Reform Lie
People are languishing away in jail because they can’t afford a bail bond
And the #1 talking point and piece of misinformation that bail reform activists like to claim is that poor people are stuck in jail and the only reason for that is because they can’t afford a bail bond. This single false statement is the foundation for their movement. But the problem with it is that it couldn’t be further from the truth.
The bail industry doesn’t harm poor people…the bail industry helps poor people. We facilitate their release for a fraction of the full amount of the bond; so, when they can’t afford a $5,000 bond, we help them get out for $500. Does that sound like taking advantage of poor people? Bail agents go even further than this by offering payment plans to those who can’t afford the full premium payment. If anything, bail agents help families afford the high cost of bail.
Additionally, sometimes there are people who are stuck in jail but this has nothing to do with bail. It usually has to do with one of several other reasons, such as not being eligible for bail because they violated their probation, they are awaiting transfer to another jurisdiction or having a bail set but not having a single family member or social connection willing to bail the person out because they know they won’t show up for court. These are just three of the reasons that easily debunk this false and misleading talking point.
Our conclusion on talking point #1… FALSE.