51 SHARES Share Tweet

In American history, there have been various laws and tactics used to keep Black people at the bottom of every statistical category that defines success in America. This is no different in the case of the Bail Bond industry that disproportionately affects people of color specifically Latino and African-American communities. Many people may be under the impression that having a bond or being in a position where you have to utilize a Bail bondsman is only for criminals in our society. However, anyone could be in need of bail money for simply forgetting to pay your car insurance or being pulled over for an expired license. These are not violent crimes, but a lapse in judgment or lack of resources can suddenly make you need bail.

The disparities in the multibillion-dollar industry are shown in a report by UCLA’s Million Dollar Hoods Research team that was released December of last year. The report conducts data mapping projects about the Los Angeles jail system, found that from 2012 to 2016, more than $19 billion in cash bail was levied against people arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department. According to researchers the $19 billion figure only reflects what was set during LAPD bookings and does not include adjustments later made by courts. The researchers concluded that “city residents pay a steep price before their innocence or guilt has been determined,” making the Los Angeles jail system — one of the country’s largest — a significant driver of inequality.

SEE ALSO: Bill Clinton’s 1994 Crime Bill Destroyed Black Communities

The reports go on to state that the amount of bail levied disproportionately fell onto low-income Blacks and Latinos. “This is an extraordinary amount of wealth taken primarily from low-income, communities of color,” Kelly Lytle Hernandez, the interim director of UCLA’s African American Studies department and one of the authors of the report, said in a statement.

Usually, someone charged cash bail has only two options: 1) forego payment and stay in jail until their matter is resolved in court or 2) solicit the services of a bail bond company to avoid jail time while waiting for their court date. If they decided to choose the second option, a bail bond agent promises to pay the full amount should the accused fail to appear in court. For this promise, the bail bond company requires the arrested person or someone acting on their behalf, to pay a nonrefundable deposit equal to a set percentage of their total bail. The UCLA report notes that in many cases, the deposit is set at 10 percent.

The report breaks down tracking bail deposits with race and gender reveals that people of color were the most likely to pay, with Latinos paying $92.1 million in deposits between 2012 and 2016. African Americans came next at $40.7 million, while whites paid $37.9 million during the same period.

SEE ALSO: Lack of Black Prosecutors Afflicts Black Communities

Creating a system where people who’re awaiting trial have to pay bail in order to get out of jail is a flawed and injustice, to say the least. This is especially detrimental to Black men and women between the ages of 23 – 39 who according to Prison Policy Initiative (non-profit) were being held in local jails had median earnings of between $568 and $900 the month prior to their arrest. Meanwhile, the median bail for a felony arrest is $10,000 and price that most families won’t be able to pay. Not to mention the non-profit states that Black defendants between the ages of 18 and 29 years old were asked to pay, on average, higher sums for bail and were less likely to be released on their own recognizance, meaning no bail payment was required.

The number of money families loses to the bail bond industry is enormously disheartening. According to an ACLU report “over a five-year period just in the state of Maryland, families of people who were accused of crimes and went on to be cleared of any wrongdoing parted with around $75 million in non-refundable bail-bond payments.”

SEE ALSO: Racial Bias in Bail Decisions

In theory, the bail system is supposed to minimize chances the accused will hinder the legal process by failing to show up to court or fleeing the area. However, this is not the case and has turned into a profit for release business.

Overall, the industry is a profitable and a fairly concentrated one. Although there are more than 25,000 bail-bonds companies across the nation, only about 10 insurers are responsible for underwriting the bulk of the $14 billion in bonds that are issued each year. The bail bond industry as a whole brings in around $2 billion in profit a year. Unfortunately, it’s not clear which companies are actually involved. The ACLU report finds that “private-equity firms play a role, but their holdings are often murky because global insurers build in several layers of opaque corporate structures between their corporate brand, bond-insurance operations, and bail-bonds storefronts.” The result is a system in which the poor often wind up even further in debt after getting arrested, whether they’re guilty or not.

Copyright ©2018 The Black Detour All Rights Reserved.