American billionaires are throwing their money around in increasing numbers in an effort to manipulate public policy to match their personal views.



Hobbies are good for the super-wealthy, as is philanthropy. But using a personal fortune to bend criminal justice and bail reform to one’s ideological worldview does not serve victims or the public at large.

The primary reason for bail is to ensure defendants return to court for trial. But there are secondary considerations as well, such as protecting the public and limiting law enforcement time and taxpayer dollars spent chasing defendants who have failed appear for their warrants.



Despite trendy liberal activism and protests to the contrary, what bail is not, nor intended to be, is punishment.

Progressives are reinventing America’s system of bail on two fronts. One is through an algorithm called the “Public Safety Assessment” (PSA) and the other — like New York State — allowing accused criminals to skip bail entirely.

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The PSA was designed by Arnold Ventures, an organization created by Texas billionaire and former Enron trader John Arnold and wife Laura, that leverages their private wealth into changing pre-trial courtroom procedures. It uses an algorithm combining nine factors supposed to help judges decide whether bail is necessary, and how much. The PSA is scored without personal interview of the alleged offender and excludes input from arresting officers, attorneys or judges.

Instead of “assisting” with bail decisions, the PSA is like a self-serve kiosk for a no-bail sandwich order. In practice, it has become a replacement for judges who have the experience and discernment necessary to evaluate the flight risk of an accused.

Many liberal and conservative criminal justice reform advocates and coalitions, along with President Trump Donald John TrumpBarr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power 'is invested in the attorney general' Military leaders asked about using heat ray on protesters outside White House: report Powell warns failure to reach COVID-19 deal could 'scar and damage' economy MORE, have made positive bi-partisan changes. But by using racial bias and “rich privilege” as a tool to influence public thought, much criminal justice reform is a strategy by the left to insert an emotion-based, progressive agenda into an objective set of practices.

In addition to the Arnold PSA tool, other liberal billionaire foundations like George Soros’ Open Society, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Ford Foundation have donated to their own pet risk assessment tool. These donations are easy to ascertain; what vigorous Internet searches fail to find are donations to victim advocacy groups from these criminal justice warriors.

Common sense dictates that defendants with the least to lose will be the first to flee. If offenders post their bail or use the property as a security against a bail bond, they have a financial self-interest or family pressure to appear. Absent that, why bother?

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It is impossible to calculate the total financial and administrative burden to the taxpayer for apprehending bail jumpers across all jurisdictions, but the U.S. Marshals Service budget is a start. Its total funding for 2020 is $1.43 billion and the majority of its activity is in the area of fugitive apprehension and custody. Marshals arrested 90,239 fugitives in 2019.

Taxpayer cost and law enforcement time is not the only casualty of social justice bail reform. Last year New York passed a law that eliminates bail for a large spate of “nonviolent” offenses, arguing bail discriminates against minority and poorer defendants. But instead of helping these defendants, it seems to be emboldening them.

Even though most bail reform activism has transpired under the radar of regular people, recent disturbing reports about crimes committed after defendants walk bail-free have put the issue back into the public square where it belongs.

In the wake of an increase in violent anti-Semitic attacks in New York last year, offenders were released without bail only to commit further attacks.

A young New York mother named Rosie Osai was hit and killed in December by an un-licensed illegal immigrant who fled the scene. He was later arrested, then released without bail, as killing a person while illegally driving and illegally speeding is apparently not “violent” in New York.

Last July, San Francisco Judge Sharon Reardon released a man with a history of felony theft, gun and parole violations based on the PSA. Five days later he took part in robbing, shooting and killing an innocent elderly man.

In 2018, a criminal in New Orleans with a history of violent drug and firearm felony convictions was released on $250 bail based on a Soros-funded risk assessment and did not return for trial. NOLA law enforcement then discovered that 13 arrestees suspected of murder were considered the lowest “risk level one,” therefore recommended for release without bail.

No rich person should be able to work outside lawful and Constitutional structure to wheel their personal bandwagon into courtrooms simply because they can.

Judges and court administrators must be vigilant to ensure bail is assigned based on long-held guidelines informed by experience and judgment, not a piece of ideologically-driven computer code.

Kerri Toloczko is a senior policy fellow at the Institute for Liberty, a public policy organization dedicated to limited government, free enterprise and individual pursuit of the American dream.