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The Philadelphia Eagles bailed nine people out of jail so they could spend Thanksgiving with their families. The effort between the players and the organization’s Social Justice Fund donated $50,000 to the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund, an organization that helps those who can’t afford to bail themselves out.

Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins and Players Coalition founder said, “The cash bail system punishes poverty and punishes people of color at a grossly disproportionate rate.”

“Some people say we need the system to make our community safe, but as you can see here with these groups, we have everything we need to make our community safer, when we decide to invest in people and wrap our arms around people, as opposed to locking them up,” Jenkins added.

The city of Philadelphia has one of the highest incarceration rates in the United States, and a University of Baltimore study shows the rate of guilty pleas are 13 percent higher for those who are detained before trial because they can’t bail themselves out.

District Attorney Larry Krasner worked with Jenkins, the Chief Public Defender and local activists on the Thanksgiving bailout.

“This should not be a country where you sit in jail because you are poor.”

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