Matthew Bakko Explains Bail Funds in The Conversation

PhD student Matthew Bakko explains in The Conversation the history of bail funds and why they matter. “More than 80% of the over 650,000 people in jail in the U.S. have not been convicted and are presumed innocent but can’t afford bail,” he writes. “Helping people pay bail is important because it means that they can return home and remain employed or in school. They are also less likely to be pressured to accept a plea deal, in which they plead guilty to a lesser charge to serve less time, whether they committed the alleged offense or not.”