Video Transcript
For so long our country has told us that your constitutional right is that you’re innocent before proven guilty. I was raised believing that the justice system was blind. That it was equal for everybody and it’s not. I think The Bail Project gives people hope because we are able to do tangible things. We’re able to get people out of jail, stop that cycle of you get incarcerated and then your whole life falls apart.
The Bail Project sort of works on two levels. One is the individual level in that we impact people’s lives on a daily basis by getting them out of jail. And then on the other level we work to create systemic policy change. The fact that half a million people every single night go to sleep in a jail cell who haven’t been convicted of any crime is one of our national shames. Making sure that people have access to continue to go to work, take care of their families, and continue their lives until their date of adjudication. I’m excited to be part of a project that presumes innocence. It allows you to fight for your case on the outside instead of the inside where the only thing you could do to get out of jail is say you’re guilty.
So The Bail Project is a national organization that works to end mass incarceration by disrupting the cash bail system. The mission of The Bail Project is to make sure that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. That we are free and that our freedom should be free! After eight and a half months of sitting in jail I decided to take a plea bargain for time served just so I can go home. When I found out about The Bail Project I just remember wishing that I had somebody like that in my corner while I was going through that. You can get arrested for being homeless, you can get arrested for being poor, you can get arrested for being Brown, for being Black, for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And you can have bail set for any of those reasons too. If a bond is $1,000 people can’t afford it. If a bond is $5,000 people can’t afford it. People are sitting in jail not because of the alleged crime that they’ve committed, but because they are poor.
Support without judgments and support without any strings attached to it and maintaining a humanity. We’re here to provide what you need. We’re not gonna tell you what you need. You tell us what you need and then we’ll just do it. We are supporting our clients by paying their bails and supporting them throughout their case.
The Bail Project really aligns well with a lot of work that I’m doing and that so many other people in my community are doing as well. I think about compassion, resilience, and we’re constantly fighting against oppression. We believe in the vehicle of liberation for all people. This system has been so racist for so long and we have an opportunity to actually create equity.
My vision of justice would be equity in all realms of society for all people. And regardless of your skin or your culture or your background that you should be able to have a voice, and to be able to fight your case, to be able to have the same access as anyone with money.
So watch out America – Freedom is about to be free!
Meet the driving force behind The Bail Project – our staff. We are a dedicated group of individuals spread across America, many of whom have been personally impacted by the criminal justice system. We are policy experts, lawyers, data analysts, criminal justice advocates, and more. Many of us have been working in our communities for years. We have an ambitious vision for the future, where everyone’s humanity and dignity are honored and freedom is free.
Thank you for engaging with our content. People like you make a better world possible – a world where justice is not determined by someone’s wealth. The Bail Project is not only an immediate lifeline for people held on unaffordable cash bail, but a growing megaphone for public education and social change. If you have the means and found value in our content, please consider becoming a donor today.
