A new report by Common Cause finds that the bail bonds industry has donated almost $300,000 to Maryland state officials since 2011 – $87,000 in 2016 alone – ranking third behind only California and Florida.
Read the full report, “Pay to Play,” here. Read the Washington Post story on the report here.
Maryland’s General Assembly is under considerable pressure to reform the state’s cash bail system, particularly since Attorney General Brian Frosh sent a letter to delegates in October suggesting it is “likely unconstitutional.”
Read the story “Punishing the Poor” in OSI’s Summer 2016 newsletter to learn more about how the cash bail system penalizes poor people for their economic status, how a risk-based system would be more just while make Marylanders safer, and to see portraits and read stories from those victimized by the system in the “Unconvicted” photo series.