'Money is coined liberty': Bail where economic populism meets the justice system

Recounting life in a czarist prison, Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote that "money is coined liberty." He could have been referencing 21st century American bail systems - long ago abandoned at the federal level and nearly everywhere else on the planet - in which one defendant may remain in jail while an identically situated person goes free, based entirely on who has access to cash.

We're still waiting for soon-to-be-filed legislation aiming to reform Texas' bail system. Such legislation would implement recommendations from the Texas Judicial Council to move away from money bail toward the use of risk assessments (to a greater or lesser extent, as remains to be seen) in determining whether to incarcerate people pretrial. In the meantime, though, the topic of bail reform percolates continuously in other states and at the local level. Here are a few examples of which Grits readers should be aware:

• The Atlantic: How cash bail keeps the poor in jail
• LA Times: California's bail system punishes the poor, and it's time for the government to do something about it
• FiveThirtyEight: New Orleans scales back its extensive, expensive bail system
• The Lens: New Orleans City Council eliminates bail requirements for most petty crimes
• NPR: New Jersey banking on shift from bail money to risk assessment
• NJ.com; Bail reform is killing our business, bail bondsmen say
• SA Express-News: Rules for bail punish the poor
• Dallas News: Why Dallas County can set $150,000 bail for a $105 shoplifting charge, and how taxpayers lose
• Dallas News (ed board): Why burn up Dallas taxpayer dollars to lock up alleged petty thieves?
• Dallas News; Dallas county officials pledge reforms after News' investigation into high bonds for nonviolent defendants