Tennessee should not fall for tough-on-crime rhetoric, but rather embrace bail reform
Welcome back to bail reform, Tennessee – sort of. Let’s hope your experiences are less fraught than those of some other states, although your initial return to the topic raises some concerns about the eagerness some have to put people who are innocent until proven guilty behind bars. It is still desirable to minimize the use of bail, because bail is a relic of colonial times that has no place in a society that seeks justice for all.
Bail, for those unclear on what it is, is a deposit that someone who’s been arrested can pay to avoid waiting in jail for their charges to be resolved.
People who can afford to post bail do so routinely, but much like the deposit on a new house, it can be an exorbitant amount of money for someone of limited means to pay for a basic need. More than 60% of defendants stay in jail before trial, yet as we know from high school and some cop shows, people who are charged are innocent until proven guilty.
Proposed constitutional amendment goes in the wrong direction
Cash bail perpetuates economic injustice and damages society. Only wealthy defendants are untroubled by bail. Jurisdictions across the country have realized that to varying extents.
Tennessee lawmakers took a look at bail reform in 2021. Now they’re back, proposing to change the state constitution to let judges hold people without bail in a wider range of criminal cases, in a kind of tough-on-crime measure. But keeping more people in jail without the possibility of bail until trial may only serve to make judges and their communities feel like they’re being tough on crime, while really only exacerbating injustice and disparity.
The dominoes that fall as a result of having cash bail assigned are numerous. If you can’t afford your bail and must remain in jail you may lose your job immediately. Whether your employer is a big supermarket chain or a small landscaping crew, their only concern is whether you show up to work.
If you lose your job, you may lose your health insurance. Being in jail puts your housing at risk, if you have it.
Severe inequities doom low-income people to serve time
All of these things foster intergenerational failures. As few as two days in jail is tied to an increase in future recidivism. Suicide is the leading cause of death in jail, and people are in greatest distress when they first arrive.
The inequity is stark. A person with assets can face 91 felony counts in multiple jurisdictions and remain free pending those trials. But in another part of town, someone can be accused of stealing a backpack, be unable to make bail of $3,000 and spend three years in jail before charges are dropped.
Care Not Cuffs, the initiative I lead, believes that supporting people’s healthful persistence in the least restrictive setting is beneficial to both the individual and society. A nation that calls itself the land of liberty ought to prioritize liberty whenever possible for all citizens.
Instead of carelessly and callously sending poor people and people of color to jail, public safety interventions could use an arrest as an opportunity to assess a person’s needs and find what resources they need to do better, whether that’s health care, housing or stable employment – key factors in reducing justice-system involvement. A society that values justice would prioritize lifting people up rather than grinding them down.
Good luck, Tennessee. We’re pulling for you.
Vincent Atchity is a member of Colorado’s new Working Group on Transforming Criminal and Juvenile Justice, served on the state’s first Jail Standards Commission, and president and chief executive officer of Mental Health Colorado, and leads the organization’s national Care Not Cuffs initiative working to disentangle mental health and criminal justice.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Criminal justice in Tennessee: Here's why bail reform works
