$500 makes all the difference.
For thousands of indigent criminal defendants in New York City, $500 is all that stands between weeks on Riker's Island and being branded with a criminal conviction, and having the case against them dismissed. The problem is that when you're really poor, finding $500 bucks can be virtually impossible.
That's why we created the Bronx Freedom Fund -- the first licensed charitable bail fund in New York State.
And since WNYC just did a nice piece about our work, it seemed like a fitting lead-in to a quick review of how we've been doing the past six months, and just what a difference allowing people to fight their cases from a position of freedom rather than incarceration makes.
So, as Chair of the board, it brings me great pleasure to report that...
- In cases in which we've posted bail, more than 80 percent of bail fund clients were spared the criminal records they would otherwise have been forced to accept had they been unable to make bail.
- Avoiding deportation. Because we posted bail one client avoided deportation to a country where he had not lived since he was a teenager and another avoided deportation to a country where she would not have been able to receive adequate medical treatment for her chronic condition.
In short, the numbers paint a pretty vivid picture of both the havoc wreaked when a poor person is forced to stay in jail because they are too poor to afford their freedom, as well as the extraordinary difference that posting bail makes.
I'm very proud of the work we've done so far.
There's lots more to do.
To learn more about our project, please visit Bronx Freedom Fund.