Land of the Free
How cash bail and pre-trial detention ratchet up the pressure on poor people until even the innocent crack.
Hey y'all it’s the 4th of July and we have a dang barn-burner this week on the pod: a fascinating conversation -- part 1 of 2 -- with Angelique Tomeo and Sabrina Ryan-Helton of the Bail Project about how maybe America isn't really the land of the free after all, what with the absurd amounts of pre-trial detention going on all throughout America (and certainly in Spokane) and how, just maybe, we should totally dismantle and abolish such a horribly inhumane system all together. Check it out here:
As a supplement to this episode don’t forget to check out my essay on what happened to crime rates when Spokane let a bunch of people out of jail due to COVID. Really gives some extra urgency to the work.
Photo illustration by Connor Bacon
SUPPLEMENTS
The story of a 72-year-old man who was locked up for 33-months pre-trial.
Bryan Stevenson's 2014 interview on Fresh Air about how "we have a criminal justice system that treats you better if you're rich and guilty than if you're poor and innocent."
GOOFS
Why yes, that is a mash-up of a climactic scene from 1996 blockbuster Independence Day and the Spokane County Jail.
With this one sound effect you too can make stupid Law & Order spoofs.