BEHIND THE PAPER WITH ERIC GRANOF
If the Bail Project Hates Cash Bail So Much, Why Do They Utilize it Every Day?
Happy New Year everyone! Another year has ended, and we can all look towards 2025 with hope and confidence that the failed experiment, called Bail Reform, will finally ride off into the sunset in defeat and make way for a rebirth of common sense in our criminal justice system. But before we could cue the balloons and confetti, the activists were at it again. This time, with a couple of articles written by the Chief Executive Officer of the Bail Project, David Gaspar. The articles were published in the Austin American Statesman on December 30th and the US News and World Report on December 31st.
In what looks like the Bail Project’s attempt at a strategic media blitz for 2025, the articles fall short of any convincing arguments. In fact, they appear to be a regurgitation of the same old talking points that they have used for decades. This includes the disproven narratives that crime is down, that jails are full of people who are only there because they can’t afford a bail bond, and the ongoing and unfortunate politicization of the tragic story of Kalief Browder who Mr. Gaspar claims died because he couldn’t afford a bail bond. Now don’t get me wrong, I give Mr. Gaspar a lot of credit. His claims are consistent and very heartfelt and full of emotion. The problem is that they really don’t ring true. The FBI has recently revised its crime report and crime is actually up. People are in jail because they have been accused of a crime, not because they can’t afford a bail bond, and Kalief Browder wasn’t able to bail out because he wasn’t eligible for bail because of a probation violation. But then again, why should these facts get in the way of trying to spin an emotional narrative of outrage in order to dismantle our criminal justice system.
No matter how many times bail reform activist groups like the Bail Project perpetuate these unsupported narratives, I can’t stop but wonder about the contradiction and irony that their organization must have to deal with every day. I mean, while they detest what they refer to as “cash bail”, a misleading and inaccurate moniker, they use it every day to release defendants. It must be a painful and ironic reality for every Bail Project employee.
Additionally, it doesn’t appear to me that they are being very fiscally responsible to their donors. Since they utilize cash bail as their preferred release mechanism, they end up wasting 90% of their donations. This is because with cash bail, you have to put down the entire amount of the bail. For example, in order to bail someone out with a $10,000 bail, you have to put up the full $10,000. Now you might get a portion of that money back if the defendant shows up for court, but charitable cash bonds have one of the highest failure to appear rates of all types of release mechanisms. So, the chances of the person showing up for court and the Bail Project getting that money back is pretty unlikely.
Now if the Bail Project were trying to improve our criminal justice system and release defendants in a responsible way, instead of depositing the full amount of the bond they could post a surety bond with a surety bail agent. Back to our example, if the bail was $10,000 the Bail Project would only pay the bail agent $1,000. That means they could bail out 10x more defendants and truly have an impact in helping those who they say are languishing away in jail. Not only could they bail out more people, but more of the people they bailed out would show up for court. Because the failure to appear rate with surety bonds is the lowest of any form of release. Now people will argue that the bail premium paid on a surety bond is non-refundable, and that is true. But even so, in the long run, the Bail Project could still release many more individuals with surety bonds than they can with paying full cash to the court…but for some reason they don’t. Instead, they throw the donations away on a more costly, less effective way to release defendants.
You see, the concept of appearance is something that the Bail Project just doesn’t seem to understand. The purpose of bail is not about letting people out of jail, it is about ensuring that they show up for court. Otherwise, why let them out in the first place if you know they are never going to show up? It almost looks like the Bail Project doesn’t really care about that part. You know, the part where the crime victim gets their day in court. Or the part where the justice system gets its chance to hold criminals accountable for their actions.
So, I think we can expect to see more of the same from the bail reform activist groups like the Bail Project in 2025, but I also think we should expect to see more jurisdictions waking up to these dangerous and irresponsible narratives that these groups have been spewing to the public for the past decade. I think 2025 will be a year of getting back to basics. Getting back to common sense where criminals are not treated like victims and communities support and desire law and order over crime and chaos. Only time will tell, but if this is all they have and what they plan to throw at us this year, I think 2025 will be a good year.
Eric Granof is the Vice President of Corporate Communications for AIA Surety.