Money bail is one of the main causes of mass incarceration in the United States. Yet, most Americans know very little about it. Brave New Films has produced this series – The Bail Trap: American Ransom – to change that.
The money bail system is broken. Private companies make exorbitant profits by scavenging off of communities (primarily of color) living in poverty. Low-income Americans sit in jail for days, months, and even years for minor infractions simply because they can’t afford to pay high bond amounts. The reality is that 70% of Americans are in jail for one simple reason – being too poor. This needs to change.
Watch our Bail Trap series – Breaking Down Bail, Tai’s Story, Deal with the Devil, and How Much Is Your Freedom Worth? – to see how our bail system affects everyday people, even when they haven’t been convicted of a crime. New Jersey's Money Bail Overhaul: A Success Story covers New Jersey’s historic money bail reform.
Total run time for the series - 39:09
Click on the films below to watch or download for free.
Eliminating the money bail system is one way to reduce mass incarceration in the U.S. Yet, few people know what the money bail system is, let alone how it works. That's why we're here to explain it all to you. Learn the basics and common misconceptions about bail in Breaking Down Bail, the first video in our Bail Trap series.