4 ms·
That is infuriating to read about, let alone live through. Something around 80-90% of people in US jails are being held pre-trial, most of them with a cash bail
by lazyasciiart 3y ago
That is infuriating to read about, let alone live through. Something around 80-90% of people in US jails are being held pre-trial, most of them with a cash bail option they can’t afford or like you, can’t arrange from jail. I encourage people to donate to organizations like The Bail Project or local bail funds, who are also usually strong advocates for ending cash bail and pre-trial detention policies, which function as a standard way to coerce guilty pleas and avoid trials.
https://bailproject.org/ https://bailproject.org/
qingcharles: there are a number of resources available to help you with “re-entry”, and after ten years that seems important. Generally the best help comes from private nonprofits, but there are a lot of official options too (https://nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/ https://nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/). If you’d like any help connecting to groups in your area, feel free to ask, I can probably find some.
- qingcharles 3y agoThe Bail Project people are amazing people and I love and adore everything they do. I kept in contact with them through the last couple of years of my incarceration. I just checked out that National Re-entry web site. Oh lord, as a web designer I just died a little inside. I tried searching for information and it just gave me pages of PDF internal reports about jail management etc. Literally nothing that would get me food or say, some winter boots. The problem I've got is that my immigration status was screwed by the incarceration and my SSN is currently invalid. I can't get any ID and I can't access any government services until it is restored. I'm supposed to be in immigration jail until my green card is reinstated, but I talked to an ICE agent and they say I am super low priority as long as I stay out of trouble they won't come after me.
- lazyasciiart 3y agoDo you have a lawyer? I know several pro-bono immigration law groups that might be able to help regularize your status.
- one_more_time2 3y agoIllinois just took a huge step forward by eliminating cash bail. It hasn't had all the negative impacts that detractors predicted. I would think a libertarian-orientated place like HN would be in full support. This model should be copied across the country so people aren't unconstitutionally jailed before being convicted. Unfortunately, the discussion has been focused on politics as a Democratic legislature and Governor passed the law. https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-opinion-decreased-prison-sentences-data-illinois-services-20231203-d245i7z3gbd5bfskz7hky46f7a-story.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-opinion...