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Thousands of Oklahomans are sitting in jails — convicted of no crimes — simply because they don’t have enough money to pay bail.

It costs taxpayers to house the defendants, and it costs communities in lost wages and family disruption. It turns the U.S. Constitution’s promise of innocent until proven guilty on its ear.

Reforming cash bail remains a critical part of the overall criminal justice reforms needed to bring down Oklahoma’s unsustainable incarceration rate.

Let’s review the basics: The purpose of bail is to make sure a person accused of a crime shows up for subsequent court hearings. Period. Full stop. It isn’t meant to be leverage for prosecutors trying to coerce pleas, a mechanism to keep jails full or for a cash cow for the bail bonds industry.

If they are not flight risks or dangers to the community, defendants, particularly those facing misdemeanor and nonviolent charges, should be released to return to their jobs, raise their families and resolve their cases.

Oklahoma’s judicial system moves at a deliberate pace, which too often turns poor defendants into hostages of the cash bail system.