Maryland can’t afford not to reform bail

Last week my parish traveled to Annapolis to deliver testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on bail reform. After 40-plus years of delivering emergency assistance to people in need in West Baltimore, we are more than aware of the debilitating effects of money bail and its negligible impact on the crime rate. We had prayers, prepared testimony and gas. We were ready to go.

But on arrival we experienced something quite different. An unexpected opposition. Money.

You see, so much of the discussion around reform has centered on the idea that Maryland “can’t afford” to reform. We “can’t afford” pre-trial services or to get rid of money bail because it is too expensive. And certainly the advocates for reform — community activists, faith leaders and local nonprofits barely have a few nickels to rub together.

But those opposing reform seemed to have a whole lot of money. They are able to afford high-priced lawyers like the former U.S. solicitor general, Paul Clement; to bring entire legal teams from nationwide “bail insurers” to testify; to pay more than $100,000 in campaign contributions to key legislators; and to ensure the support of well known nationwide advocates who have little to do with bail and even less to do with Maryland. In fact, among the advocates speaking against reform, it was hard to find someone presumably not on the payroll of Lexington National Insurance. Perhaps it is the bail insurance industry that can’t afford the cost of reform.

In fact we know this to be true. Bail reform efforts in Maryland do not seek to do away with money bail entirely but to substantially reduce it for low-risk, nonviolent offenders who are better served by limited pre-trial services, drug treatment and counseling than high bails they can’t afford. They pose almost no flight risk and, crucially, they are the bread and butter of the cash bail industry. They pay a percentage fee to the bondsmen to get them out, show up for court without much fuss to get on with their lives, and the bondsmen keep the money. This is the honeypot for bail insurers: no-risk clients whom you never have to pay back!

Perhaps, if we were able to re-direct the millions of dollars going into their coffers toward pre-trial release programs, alternative to incarceration programs, and drug and mental health treatment, cities like Baltimore wouldn’t be quite so poor either. Perhaps then we could create a justice system that provided justice for all.