Skip to Content List

  • Skip to primary content
  • Skip to footer content

Site Navigation Lists

  • Fellowship Application
  • Grantmaking Process
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • About
    • Mission and Vision
    • Staff
    • Board
    • Leadership Council
    • Impact Reports
    • Impact Photo Series
  • Programs and Impact
    • Our Programs and Impact
    • Education and Youth Development
    • Criminal and Juvenile Justice
    • Addiction and Health Equity
    • Community Fellowships
  • Grantees and Fellows
    • Grantee Database
    • Grantmaking Process
    • Community Fellows
    • How to Apply
  • News and Reports
    • Baltimore Justice Report
    • Newsletters
    • Reports
    • Impact Reports
    • Blueprint for Baltimore
    • OSI in the News
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
    • 20th Anniversary Speaker Series
    • Talking About Race Series
    • Talking About Addiction Series
  • Privacy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Community Guidelines
  • Terms & Conditions
Open Society Institute – Baltimore

Open Society Institute – Baltimore

Open Society Institute (OSI) – Baltimore : Audacious Thinking For Lasting Change

  • Fellowship Application
  • Grantmaking Process
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • EN
    • EN
    • ES
  • About
    • Mission and Vision
    • Staff
    • Board
    • Leadership Council
    • Impact Reports
    • Impact Photo Series
  • Programs and Impact
    • Our Programs and Impact
    • Education and Youth Development
    • Criminal and Juvenile Justice
    • Addiction and Health Equity
    • Community Fellowships
  • Grantees and Fellows
    • Grantee Database
    • Grantmaking Process
    • Community Fellows
    • How to Apply
  • News and Reports
    • Baltimore Justice Report
    • Newsletters
    • Reports
    • Impact Reports
    • Blueprint for Baltimore
    • OSI in the News
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
    • 20th Anniversary Speaker Series
    • Talking About Race Series
    • Talking About Addiction Series
Maryland AG Frosh says cash bail system is “likely unconstitutional”

Featured in
Baltimore Justice Report

Next Article
OSI's Huffman moderates panel on police accountability

Baltimore Justice Report

Maryland AG Frosh says cash bail system is “likely unconstitutional”

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Content Social Share Links

  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter

Yesterday, Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh declared that the cash bail system in the state is “likely unconstitutional” in an advice letter sent to several Maryland delegates. The Attorney General’s findings were announced in both the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Post.

In the letter, Frosh maintained that a defendant may still be held in jail until trial for other reasons, such as being a flight risk or for the public’s safety, but holding defendants in jail because they cannot afford to pay cash bail would be considered a violation of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the government from imposing excessive fines or cruel and unusual punishment.

Frosh’s letter comes in response to an inquiry from five House of Delegates members – Erek L. Barron of Prince George’s County, Shelly Hettleman of Baltimore County, Brooke E. Lierman of Baltimore, and Kathleen Dumais and Marc Korman of Montgomery County – who sought the Attorney General’s formal opinion on Maryland’s practice of setting financial conditions for pretrial release.

The question of the role of money bail in the criminal justice system is getting national attention. Civil rights organizations are bringing litigation against jurisdictions all over the United States to challenge existing bail practices, and in many instances the plaintiffs are prevailing. In Maryland, two state-level commissions have already called for Maryland to adopt a pretrial system that uses objective criteria, not money, to make pretrial decisions. The Attorney General’s opinion echoes the findings of these commissions and once again demonstrates that Maryland’s pretrial system is in dire need of reform.

In July, OSI hosted #unconvicted, a photo exhibit documenting the plight of pretrial detainees across Maryland. The exhibit kicked off a years-long statewide campaign that will focus on moving Maryland from a money-based system to a more effective and equitable system that is based on objective criteria, instead of a defendant’s ability to pay.

OSI grantees like Justice Policy Institute (JPI), Power Inside, and Pretrial Justice Institute have been calling for statewide pretrial justice reform for years. But, as Marc Schindler, JPI executive director said in the Post, Maryland has been “behind the curve” on bail reform.

Although the Attorney General’s opinion is not legally binding, it should provide more motivation for decision-makers in Maryland to make real reforms.

“There is no credible research that supports the continued use of money bail,” says Tara Huffman, OSI-Baltimore Director of Criminal and Juvenile Justice. “On the other hand, we do have credible data that shows that Maryland’s current bail system disproportionately impacts people of color and people with limited means. Money shouldn’t play a role in pretrial decisions and it’s time for Maryland to eliminate it.”

Related Content

The Sun’s Justin George on the underpinnings of crime

Baltimore Sun crime reporter Justin George is interviewed in this Q and A from the Trace. George recognizes that the issues o…

Read More

Post navigation

Previous Article Previous OSI’s Karen Webber talks about transformational practices in urban schools
Next Article Next Article OSI’s Huffman moderates panel on police accountability
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Youtube

Subscribe to our mailing list

OSI Logo

Open Society Institute-Baltimore
Bold Thinking, Strategic Action, Justice for All.

Quick donate

© 2023 Open Society Institute-Baltimore
  • Privacy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Community Guidelines
  • Terms & Conditions
Skip to top of page