\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t<\/amp-analytics><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n
\nWhen someone arrested arrives at jail, their ability to afford bail will be assessed using a calculator built by the Vera Institute of Justice<\/a>, a nonprofit aimed at \u201cending mass incarceration.\u201d<\/li>\nA judicial commissioner \u2014 who reports to the General Sessions judges \u2014 will then determine whether or not the person should be released without bail, released with a bail the calculator says they can afford, or considered for a high, unaffordable bail.<\/li>\n If the commissioner thinks an unaffordable bail may be necessary, they will set a date for a bail hearing that must be held within 72 hours.\u00a0<\/li>\n The hearings will be open to the public and will allow the arrested individuals \u2014 or their public defenders or lawyers \u2014 to present arguments against a high bail.\u00a0<\/li>\n At the hearing\u2019s end, a judge or judicial commissioner will only impose a high bail if it is deemed that no other conditions will \u201creasonably prevent (the defendant\u2019s) flight or reasonably assure the safety of the public.\u201d And, they will have to explain how they reached this decision.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThis policy is the result of negotiations between the judges, the Shelby County Board of Commissioners, the ACLU, Just City and others, which followed the ACLU and Just City threatening a lawsuit late last year<\/a> over bail-setting practice in the county.\u00a0<\/p>\nWoods said the ACLU achieved far more in Shelby County than it has been able to in other parts of the country because of public officials\u2019 willingness to improve the system. In Glynn County, Georgia<\/a>, for instance, the ACLU was only able to secure an agreement that the county would make bail more affordable for misdemeanor cases. And in places such as Dallas<\/a>, the organization is in the midst of a years-long legal battle to try to secure a policy like Shelby County\u2019s new one.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n
Josh Spickler, executive director of Just City<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nSpickler said his group got everything it had hoped for in the negotiations, other than it wanted the bail hearings to be set within 24 hours of someone\u2019s arrest. While he\u2019s thrilled with the outcome, he said the real test will come now that the court must implement these major changes \u2014 working with all nine General Sessions Criminal Court judges, including the two who didn\u2019t sign the order but are still bound by it.<\/p>\n
Until now, the court has handled cash bail in a way Spickler and Woods believe violates state law and the U.S. Constitution. It has regularly held people for weeks or months without a bail hearing, not considered what a defendant can afford when setting bail, and detained people indefinitely even if they are not a flight or safety risk.<\/p>\n
Such a system unjustly punishes people for their poverty, Willie Santana, a visiting assistant law professor at Lincoln Memorial University<\/a> in Knoxville, told MLK50: Justice Through Journalism.<\/p>\n\u201cIf the person can make that money bail, if they\u2019re wealthy or have family resources, then the case just progresses. They get out. No problems,\u201d Santana said. \u201cIt\u2019s when they\u2019re poor that things start to get really screwy and really unjust.\u201d<\/p>\n
A 2021 Brookings Institution study<\/a> found that people who spent time in pretrial detention \u201cfaced subsequent long-term damage in the form of family separation, work interruption and loss of housing, or even death.\u201d Having an arrest or jail time on record can decrease a person\u2019s job prospects for up to four years, the study found, and can result in tens of thousands of dollars in lost income.\u00a0<\/p>\nIn recent years, the Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope<\/a>, the Official Black Lives Matter Memphis Chapter<\/a> and other local grassroots advocates have been pushing for bail reform<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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