We Keep Us Safe: Harm Throughout the System
Our justice system is supposed to operate on the assumption of ‘innocent until proven guilty’, but in practice over ⅔ of the people held in jail have not been convicted of a crime. They remain behind bars while awaiting trial simply because they cannot afford to pay the bail that has been set for their release. In effect, this creates a different experience of the criminal justice system for the rich and the poor, leaving the most vulnerable among us subject to wrongful incarceration.
The Gathering for Justice held a town hall on Wednesday, August 19th, We Keep Us Safe: Harm Throughout the System, to draw attention to the issue of bail, how harmful it is, and how we can work to eliminate this practice and better meet the needs of our communities.
We started off the evening with a summary of the history of bail, delivered by Luis Hernandez, Youth Leadership & Engagement Coordinator for The Gathering, Justice League NYC member and an activist who fought for his brother Pedro’s release from jail. Luis provided a brief history of the purpose of bail, which was designed to ensure people would return to court, and how this has transformed into a money-making operation for the for-profit companies that back jails and prisons. He shared some truly concerning statistics, including the fact that between 1970 and 2015 the number of people held in jail before trial has risen by 433%.
In the second segment, we dug deeper into the personal harm and lasting trauma that is caused by this bail system. When Luis’ brother Pedro Hernandez was arrested for a crime that he did not commit, he had no prior convictions and was set to be attending college on a scholarship the following year. Yet the judge set a bail of $250,000, which his family was unable to afford despite every effort. Pedro spent over a year on Riker’s Island awaiting trial, and was finally released after a coalition of over 50 organizations, led by Justice League NYC, successfully pushed the Bronx District Attorney for transparency. While the charges against Pedro were dropped, and one of the arresting officers was disciplined, nothing can replace the year he lost and Pedro continues to experience impacts of the time he spent wrongfully imprisoned. Luis, Pedro and their mother Jessica Perez courageously shared the impact this miscarriage of justice on their family.
The third segment featured Tinisch Hollins of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice and Raymond Aguilar of Fathers & Families of San Joaquin Valley. Tinisch saw the harm that was being done in her community and got involved in community organizing and activism to draw attention to the lack of resources in her community that led to cycles of trauma that are difficult to undo. Raymond is a formerly incarcerated man who was tried as an adult at the age of 16 and served 26 years. He now works with system impacted youth to help mentor and guide them as well as fighting against the practice of trying youth as adults. We highlighted both of these voices to bring attention to the ways in which the system has failed communities, families and individuals across the country as well as the necessity for redirecting resources to help communities heal.
In the final segment of the night, we discuss the necessity of bail reform and how we can drive positive change to ensure that we are not holding innocent people behind bars and negatively impacting their life for years to come. Segment four features Jay Jordan from Californians for Safety & Justice, Stanley Fritz from Citizen Action of NY and Marie Ndiaye of the Legal Aid Society to discuss the things that their organizations are doing to push for reform, and what actions listeners can take to get involved in this fight.
The Gathering for Justice is grateful to our partners at Californians for Safety & Justice, Citizen Action of NY, Crime Survivors for Safety & Justice, Fathers and Families of San Joaquin Valley and FWD.us for making this critically important discussion possible. Be sure to stay tuned for more from the We Keep Us Safe series, exploring the ways that we can ‘be the change’ and dismantle the systems that oppress Black and Brown communities.
