Kalief Browder, an African American sixteen year old from the Bronx in New York City, was walking home from a party with his friend when he was stopped by police unexpectedly and charged with an alleged theft in 2010. The accuser, Roberto Bautista, was sitting in a police squad car and identified Browder and his friend as the thieves. The theft was a backpack that was said to contain $700 dollars, a credit card, and an iPod Touch. In his interrogation, with police, Kalief Browder insisted that he had not robbed anyone and that neither the backpack nor its contents would be found in his possession. Browder and his friend were then taken to the precinct where they were processed and taken to central booking. Within the following 48 hours Browder was interrogated and charged with robbery, grand larceny, and assault. At arraignment, bail was set at $3,000 dollars. If Browder’s family used a bondsman the amount would be ten percent plus fees or around $900 dollars for his bail to the bondsman. The bondsman would then post the entire bail amount with the court. The family could not pay $900 resulting in Browder remaining imprisoned at Rikers Island for the next three years.1
Debtors jail in colonial America was used to lock up those who owed money to the government. In today’s society, it translates into the cash bail system. 4 The for-profit bail system in the United States is used to keep those who are accused of breaking the law from harming anybody else or to be sure the accused will appear in court. If the accused is unable to pay the bail at the time of the arraignment, they may use a bondsman or they will remain incarcerated until their trial. For the poor, it is the latter. For Kalief Browder it was the beginning of the end. Only two countries in the whole world have a cash bail system, the United Sates and the Philippines. The cash bail system results in unnecessarily imprisoning citizens who do not pose as a threat to society and who most likely are not a flight risk. No pre-trial information is given to a judge before setting bail and there are no set standards on setting the amount for bail per case.5 Those who are wealthy enough to pay avoid the scarring effect prison has on one’s life. But for those who cannot afford bail, they face violence behind bars, debt, isolation, and at minimum a harsh punishment for those later found innocent, as in Kalief Browder’s case. This has created a two tier system in our judicial process. The first tier are wealthy offenders who can post bail and the second tier is everyone else who cannot afford equal justice or treatment.
Statistics show that 60 percent of people in jail from 2005 to 2015 were in jail awaiting trial. Three fourths of these individuals were accused of nonviolent crimes.6 This is alarming. On a national level, the United States imprisons persons who are essentially living in poverty and who are more susceptible to being involved or accused of a crime. In some instances, the court can grant “release on one’s own recognizance” or ROR. However, this is determined on a state by state standard. An example of this would be New York, the judicial system there would be more willing to grant ROR if the individual has a cellphone, has had a New York address for a year and has a job.7 These may seem like easy standards to meet, but consider those who are homeless, unemployed or cannot afford a cellular service on a regular basis. Their fate rests upon pre-trial bail. The bail money that the defendant does not have, requiring a bondsman, but not always attainable either.
- Johnson, Stephon “‘Time: The Kalief Browder Story’ Shows Failure of Justice System” New York Amsterdam News, March 2, 2017 http://blume.stmarytx.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=121613807&site=ehost-live&scope=site. ↵
- Schwirtz, Michael, and Michael Winerip “Kalief Browder, Held at Rikers Island for 3 Years Without Trial, Commits Suicide” The New York Times June 08, 2015 https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/09/nyregion/kalief-browder-held-at-rikers-island-for-3-years-without-trial-commits-suicide.html. ↵
- Schwirtz, Michael, and Michael Winerip “Kalief Browder, Held at Rikers Island for 3 Years Without Trial, Commits Suicide” The New York Times June 08, 2015 https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/09/nyregion/kalief-browder-held-at-rikers-island-for-3-years-without-trial-commits-suicide.html. ↵
- Steinberg, Robin “Robin Steinberg: What If We Ended the Injustice of Bail?” TED (June 18, 2016.) Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B24RaqA33k . ↵
- Lally, Sean “Can the U.S.Radically Alter Its Cash Bail System?” (October 23, 2017) https://attorneys.us/can-u-s-radically-alter-cash-bail-system/. ↵
- Gunasekera, Yousha “Bail Means Jail: Debtor’s Prison for the Unconvicted.” Progressive 81, no6 (August 2017): 56–59 http://blume.stmarytx.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=123986116&site=ehost-live&scope=site. ↵
- King, Elizabeth “Inside the Fight to End Cash Bail” Pacific Standard January 08, 2018 https://psmag.com/social-justice/meet-the-reformers-taking-on-alec-to-end-cash-bail. ↵
- “Bail Bond Services for Waco, Texas” Kocian Bail Bonds December 14, 2015 https://www.bailbondskocian.com/. ↵
- “Bail Reform” Official Website – Assemblyman Rob Bonta Representing the 18th California Assembly District (March 29, 2018) Accessed September 21, 2018 https://a18.asmdc.org/article/bail-reform. ↵
- Gonnerman, Jennifer “Before the Law” The New Yorker December 08, 2017 https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/06/before-the-law. ↵
123 comments
Isaiah Torres
Aside from the crime that he was accused of committing, I have always felt that the bail/bond pricing system has always been fair. The only thing that would make it very expensive would be depending on the degree of the crime that was committed. It is understood that a lot of these cases are crimes that really weren’t committing by the person that is said to, but you have to look at it both ways. If you lower the pricing to get out, that means that you must do it for everybody, and that would mean that there is a chance that people that have created serious crimes will possibly be able to afford bail/bond and get out. I feel that it would be a greater risk to the whole community, so I would not want to take that chance.
Andres Cano
I think this case was not about whether or not this man committed the crime, but rather brings the United States prison system to a negative light. Maybe he did commit this crime and was rightfully imprisoned, but it seems to me as though he was kept there as the evidence for his case slowly crumbled. His accusers just did not seem to care much about a 16 year old kid who got thrown in prison without bail.
Sarah Uhlig
This man did not commit the crime. He was falsely accused and had to live in jail for two years. It is sad to read about people who are falsely accused and treated for someone else’s crime, especially since his trial was delayed for so long. Today’s society needs to be better about who they put behind bars so that people who are actually innocent don’t lose their childhood years away for someone else’s crime.
Thomas Fraire
This was a very well-written article. It explained the injustices in the for-profit bail system in a way that was easy to follow, and it made it simpler to understand where the inequalities lie. One such instance mentioned in the article was the probability of wealthy criminals being able to pay their bail while the more poverty-struck innocent would have no way to do so. This system may not have been created for that intended purpose, but it still is having these kinds of effects, so it’s good that this article highlights the flaws.
Christopher Metta Bexar
I was glad to read this article on the system. The companies themselves by nature of their service have a reputation just above legalized prostitution.
The author mentions the disparity between those who can afford bail and those who can not. The most famous case of bail mishandling I believe happened in Miami where a judge had a member of the Medellin cartel and set bail at a miserable five million dollars ( pocket change for the cartel).
it is understandable high bail for serious crimes and the defendant is a flight risk. But I agree with the author that often judges don’t consider poverty or wealth in making bail decisions.
Nadia Carrasco
Very well written article and interesting topic. I have never read an article that went through this detail within the bail system. People that have to deal with this are automatically at a disadvantage and treated unfairly. It was very noticeable that the author had done lots of research and was familiar with the issue as the article was super informative!
Nathalie Figueroa Soto
This was a very well-written article. It explained the injustices in the for-profit bail system in a way that was easy to follow, and it made it simpler to understand where the inequalities lie. One such instance mentioned in the article was the probability of wealthy criminals being able to pay their bail while the more poverty-struck innocent would have no way to do so. This system may not have been created for that intended purpose, but it still is having these kinds of effects, so it’s good that this article exist to highlight the flaws.
Samire Adam
I must congratulate you on the publication of your article. I have never read an article on the history media site that covers a relevant topic regarding the prejudiced United States criminal court system. I think this is an article that needed to be share and read by all ages and backgrounds. Concerning the Kalief Browder case, it is interesting that it took 3 years for the prosecutors to figure out they did not have a case while a teenager sat in jail.
Alexandra Lopez
Congratulations on your nomination. It is so sad to hear these horrible stories that occur every day in our justice system. The author informs about this unfair practices of the bail bond system. Kalief Browder maybe would have not taken his life had he been given a bond and not have step foot in the prison system. The author did an excellent job telling the story of problems of the bail bond system to the reader. (reposted)
Alexandra Lopez
Congratulations on your nomination. It is so sad to hear these horrible stories that occur every day in our justice system. The author informs about this unfair practices of the bail bond system. Kalief Browder maybe would have not taken his life had he been given a bond and not have step foot in the prison system. The author did an excellent job telling the story of problems of the bail bond system to the reader.