Jacobin: Bail Bond Insurers Are Lobbying to Keep People in Jail - The Bail Project

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This investigative feature in Jacobin examines how the for-profit bail industry is driving federal efforts to restrict charitable bail funds. The article details lobbying by the American Bail Coalition, which represents billion-dollar commercial bail insurers, and describes how proposed legislation could limit nonprofit bail operations. It frames the commercial bail system as reinforcing a “two-tiered” approach to pretrial justice, while presenting bail funds as an alternative model. The piece includes perspective from The Bail Project’s Director of Communications, Jeremy Cherson, who discusses how the growth of charitable bail funds has reshaped the landscape of pretrial reform.

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Director of Communications and Publications

Jeremy Cherson

As the Director of Communications and Publications, Mr. Cherson directs the organization’s communications, earned media and public relations, internal communications, and publications strategies. With more than fifteen years of experience in criminal justice reform, community-based research, government operations, and research and project management, Mr. Cherson joined The Bail Project in 2020 as the Senior Policy Advisor, where he helped develop the organization’s policy team and oversaw several state and local-level advocacy campaigns. Before The Bail Project, Mr. Cherson served in several positions within the de Blasio administration at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, where his work included the development of the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety, a citywide community safety intervention grounded in the principles of participatory justice and where he also led the DOJ-funded Smart Defense Initiative to improve the administration and oversight of New York City’s Assigned Counsel Plan. He received a B.S. in film and television from Boston University and an M.P.A. in public and nonprofit management and policy from New York University.