The Bail Bond Industry Fights To Keep You In Jail

The shadowy for-profit bail industry is behind a first-of-its-kind federal effort to criminalize charitable efforts designed to help people who can’t afford to post bail. 

The legislation, which civil rights groups warn is part of an ongoing wave of attacks on bail reforms, would be a win for the for-profit bail industry: Bounty hunters and the Wall Street insurers that back them all profit from the United States’ unique bail bonds system, in which poor people facing criminal charges pay bail agents to post their bail and get out of jail as they await trial.

The new bill, which just passed the House of Representatives, uses federal insurance law to target bail funds, charitable groups that collect donations to help bail people out of jail who can’t otherwise afford it. In the name of being tough on crime and fraud, the bill would subject these groups to potentially severe criminal penalties if they fail to comply with the regulations — mirroring state-level attempts to restrict bail funds, like a Georgia law this year that, in practice, outlawed the funds entirely.