Program to benefit Cleveland inmates who can’t afford bond
CLEVELAND — A Los Angeles-based bail reform group is coming to Cleveland to free Cuyahoga County jail inmates who can’t afford even low bond amounts.
The nonprofit Bail Project, established in 2007 and now operating in about a dozen communities, aims to combat mass incarceration by using a national revolving fund to post bonds for poor defendants.
A Cleveland program is expected to be up and running by mid-to-late June, said Ezra Ritchin, the organization’s national director of operations.
Arrival of the Bail Project coincides with bail reform efforts in Cleveland Municipal Court and Cuyahoga Common Pleas Courts.
Bail-reform advocates want to eliminate so-called “cash bail” because they say it discriminates against the poor. Defendants who can’t afford bond spend time away from work and family that can lead to even more problems.
Often that inconvenience encourages a defendant to plead guilty to a crime against that person’s better judgment, Ritchin said.
“If you are sitting in a jail and you are offered a plea that allows you to go home there is a very solid chance that you will take that plea deal,” he said.
Defendants who are locked up also have a more difficult time preparing for their defense, according to Ritchin.
The Bail Project has collected data that shows the threat of losing money isn’t necessary to encourage defendants to return to court. Ritchin said his organization views itself as a bridge to a time when cash bail is no longer used.
“At the end of the day we’re trying to put ourselves out of business,” he said.
The Bail Project plans to initially hire two client advocates, also known as “bail disruptors,” to work in Cleveland. They will screen defendants for eligibility. Advocates likely will have familiarity with the local criminal justice system and may have even experienced it first hand, Ritchin said.
Once the advocates are trained, they will meet with defendants in the jail to review the circumstances of their incarceration. That’s where an advocate might learn, for example, that a defendant failed to appear in court on a prior case because of a complication in that person’s life rather than a willful attempt to evade court.
The median bond amount for someone released with the help of the Bail Project is about $1,000, Ritchin said.
Ritchin said a big part of the advocate’s job will be staying in touch with defendants once they are released to make sure they return to court. That could mean helping them find transportation or child care. They also may encourage defendants to seek drug treatment or mental-health therapy, although compliance with such recommendations would not be mandated.
The Bail Project expects to find defendants who can’t make bail through referrals from a variety of sources, including the County Public Defender’s Office, but also from people in jail, their families and friends.
Most defendants charged in Cuyahoga County appear first in a municipal court, generally within 48 hours of arrest, where their bond is initially set. If they are facing a felony, their case is transferred to the County Common Pleas Court.
The Bail Project got its start in the Bronx and Queens, N.Y., and has since expanded to St. Louis, Tulsa, Detroit, Louisville, Indianapolis, Spokane, Washington, Compton, California, San Diego and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Ritchin said the Bail Project targeted Cleveland, in part, because the community already has an interest in bail reform.