Bail Burden Keeps U.S. Jails Stuffed With Inmates

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DATE : Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:07:08 -0500
Entered in Database : 2010-01-22 06:07:08
length : 10199836
Link to the Show / Show Notes

Two-thirds of the inmates in U.S. jails are petty, nonviolent offenders who are there for only one reason: They can't afford their bail. Sometimes, it's as little as $50. Some will wait behind bars for as long as a year before their cases make it to court. And it will cost taxpayers $9 billion this year to house them. The underlying problem is that the bail system exists almost exclusively to protect the interests of a powerful bail bonding industry.

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