Bail Reform Quotes

Defendants are being evaluated based on numerical grid without any aggravating circumstances being considered. The effect has been to transfer the disparity from the judge to the prosecutor allowing for a great deal of leeway on indictments.

There's a black man inside of me just trying to make bail.

The real answer to the problem of crime committed by persons on bail, and indeed the solution to the general problem of crime, lies not in preventive detention of individuals presumed innocent, but in the speedy trial of the accused and the swift and sure punishment of the guilty.

I think Kamala Harris would be a fantastic president. I've known her for many years. We've worked on a lot of issues together, including criminal justice reform and also specifically on bail reform. I think she is the leader we need who can unite the American people.

We loathe mass incarceration. We loathe police brutality. But most of us have absolutely no idea how to address the critical flaws in our justice system.

We must put an end to the corruption and systemic racism in our justice system, and that starts by electing progressive district attorneys who will fight for real justice across the country.

Our criminal justice system has swallowed up too many people I love. I am proud to join the ACLU in the fight to make mass incarceration a thing of the past.

Holding people presumed to be innocent in jail pre-trial simply because they cannot afford to pay their bail extracts huge human and financial costs.

I want to see changes in our criminal justice system.

Once they are charged, too many poor New Yorkers find themselves trapped by our unjust bail system. Unable to pay for bail, they languish in Rikers Island or other jails while they await trial, regardless of guilt.

There are no wealthy people on Rikers Island because if you are wealthy, you go free because you make bail.

We need criminal justice reform. You have heard people talk about that all over the country. I was able to work on that specific issue at home.

In San Francisco, I am proud to say that one of my first mandates as district attorney was that my staff would never ask the court to impose money bail. If we believe someone is too dangerous to be released, then it doesn't matter how wealthy they are - we should ask the court to detain them.

What we're doing in San Francisco and what we're doing with other criminal justice partners across the state and across the country is anything but indiscriminate. We are being careful. We are being focused and surgical in our efforts to decrease the jail population.

Thousands of citizens are confined each year, not because they are guilty of commission of a crime, but because they cannot afford to post bond.

I am happy that the urgency to reform our broken criminal justice system has found allies all across the political spectrum.

One of my priorities is criminal justice reform, and there is certainly bipartisan appetite for that. I think we need to eliminate the cash bail system. We need to eliminate mandatory minimums. We need sentencing reform. I think we need parole reform as well.

We have to end cash bail.

The problem with money bail, for those who aren't familiar with it, is that it puts a price tag on freedom. It says to someone who is wealthy that no matter how dangerous you are, you can buy your way out.

What is the price of justice? What is the price of justice? When bail is set unreasonably high, people are behind bars only because they are poor. Not because they're a danger or a flight risk - only because they are poor. They don't have money to get out of jail and they certainly don't have money to flee anywhere.

I have, ever since the first day of my campaign, called for criminal justice reform.

What position are the citizens here in New York City and New York state? No cash bail for misdemeanors or non-violent felonies. You can rob the local drug store and you get a little appearance ticket and you're right back out on the street.