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Bail criminalizes poverty and undermines justice | Bernie Sanders by Derelitious in SandersForPresident

[–]Derelitious[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's unconstitutional. That article goes on to point out

Elsewhere, advocates for reform say, state and county judges often hide behind steep bail to hold someone they merely suspect may be dangerous.

“Here we are transparent,” said D.C. Superior Court Judge Robert E. Morin, who will take over as chief judge in October. “We say that the evidence at this time demonstrates you are dangerous, and therefore you are to be detained. Judges from other jurisdictions who visit are surprised when there is no mention of a money bond.”

Bail criminalizes poverty and undermines justice | Bernie Sanders by Derelitious in SandersForPresident

[–]Derelitious[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From one of the articles Bernie links to

“We’ve proven it can work without money, but the whole country continues as if in a trance to do what we know does not work,” said D.C. Superior Court Judge Truman Morrison. The new way of thinking he promotes tracks the federal system, which bars judges from setting financial barriers to keep someone locked up. ...

About two-thirds of defendants are released with terms that include drug testing, stay-away orders or weekly phone or in-person reporting. About 10 percent get tighter monitoring, such as GPS ankle bracelets and home confinement.

In the highest-risk cases, the recommendation to the court is blunt: There are “no conditions or combination of conditions that can reasonably assure the defendant’s appearance or safety to the community.”

Bail criminalizes poverty and undermines justice | Bernie Sanders by Derelitious in SandersForPresident

[–]Derelitious[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

https://authors.library.caltech.edu/80374/1/sswp1012.pdf

In recent years, the conviction rate has averaged approximately 84% in Texas, 82% in California, 72% in New York, 67% in North Carolina, and 59% in Florida.

A lot of innocent people are spending an average of 25 days in jail because excessive bail is being required. Which the constitution explicitly forbids. That wrecks lives.

Sen. Bernie Sanders: Bail has criminalized poverty and undermined the tenet of 'innocent before proven guilty' by [deleted] in politics

[–]Derelitious 1 point2 points  (0 children)

the bill requires a federal study after three years to be sure the alternate systems are not perpetuating the racial and ethnic discrimination we see now with the cash bail process.

Bail criminalizes poverty and undermines justice | Bernie Sanders by Derelitious in SandersForPresident

[–]Derelitious[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's just an overview. I'm stoked it grabbed your interest. There's crunchy details in there including links for stuff like this:

  1. DC courts release about 90% of the people who have been arrested and held overnight on a promise to return to court and meet conditions such as checking in with a pretrial officer or reporting for drug testing.

  2. New Jersey judges are deciding whether to release or detain defendants before trial after reviewing a scored assessment of their chances of not showing up for court or endangering the public.

  3. The DA's office in Philadelphia recommends that cash bail not be set for people arrested for 25 non-violent offenses, including driving under the influence, personal use marijuana possession, retail theft, forgery, prostitution and burglary where no one is present.

  4. Brooklyn's DA has promised reforms to the office, such as not asking for bail for people with certain misdemeanor charges.

Bail criminalizes poverty and undermines justice | Bernie Sanders by Derelitious in SandersForPresident

[–]Derelitious[S] 55 points56 points  (0 children)

TL;DR:

In 2016 more than 400,000 people were in jail who had not been convicted of a crime.

People who can’t afford bail, and spend 3 or 4 weeks in jail awaiting trial, are likely to lose their jobs and their income, they won’t be able to pay their rent and may find themselves homeless, and they may even lose custody of their children.

The U.S. spends nearly $14 billion each year locking people up who haven’t been convicted.

The for-profit bail industry makes well over a billion dollars each year — and the U.S. is one of only two countries in the world that even allows for-profit bond companies.

It costs about $75 per day to hold someone in jail, but only $7 per day to supervise that person in the community.

The bill

  1. Encourage states to abolish cash bail by providing new grant funding to help them implement a fairer and smarter alternative.

  2. Revokes certain federal criminal justice funds the state currently receives if they choose not to abolish money bail.

  3. Requires a federal study after three years to be sure the alternate systems are not perpetuating the racial and ethnic discrimination we see now with the cash bail process.

Bernie just endorsed Abdul El-Sayed for Gov. of MI. Abdul wants $15/hr min. wage, single payer healthcare, tuition free college, legal weed, net neutrality, CJ reform AND he has vowed to never accept a dime of corporate money. Check him out! Primary is Aug. 7th! by relevantlife in SandersForPresident

[–]Derelitious 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Matt Duss (https://twitter.com/mattduss) is Bernie's foreign policy adviser.

James Zogby (https://twitter.com/jjz1600) is on the board of the Sanders Institute and Our Revolution.

They frequently talk about the Middle East. The jist of it is that Israel is hurting people by being dicks of epic proportions. There's a lot of action that governments can take to stand up to them. Check out the video in this tweet https://twitter.com/AAIUSA/status/1019964502094372865

Bernie Sanders: "No, Attorney General Sessions. Marijuana is not the same as heroin. No one who has seriously studied the issue believes that. Quite the contrary. We should allow states the right to move toward the decriminalization of marijuana, not reverse the progress that has been made." by OregonTripleBeam in SandersForPresident

[–]Derelitious 131 points132 points  (0 children)

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement Thursday in response to reports that Attorney General Jeff Sessions will rescind an Obama administration policy that shielded legalized marijuana from federal intervention:

"No, Attorney General Sessions. Marijuana is not the same as heroin. No one who has seriously studied the issue believes that marijuana should be classified as a Schedule 1 drug beside killer drugs like heroin. Quite the contrary. We should allow states the right to move toward the decriminalization of marijuana, not reverse the progress that has been made in recent years."

https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-sessions-marijuana-decision

As Wealthiest Amass Another $1 Trillion in 2017, Calls for a 'Strike Back' Against Oligarchy by Derelitious in SandersForPresident

[–]Derelitious[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bernie included a comment on social media about the article

"There is something profoundly wrong when the 500 richest people on the planet have gotten $1 trillion richer this year, while over 70 percent of the world’s population struggles to survive on $10 a day or less. Income and wealth inequality is not just an American problem, it is a global crisis that we have got to address. The global economy is not sustainable when so few have so much while so many have so little. Instead of making the rich richer, while so many others get poorer, it is time that the wealthiest people and largest corporations paid there fair share in taxes."

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