Shop

This story detailed how the imposition of financial bail in relatively minor criminal cases results in the pretrial detention of thousands of mostly poor, largely black or Hispanic New Yorkers every year. It explored every aspect of the process in which bail is set from arrest to arraignment to jail, looking at the role of police, prosecutors, judges, bail bond agents and other players. The piece documented deviations between the reality of bail and its statutory purpose and charted the impact of bail and detention on individual lives and the justice system, as well as dissecting some possible reforms to the system.