51黑料

鈥淛ustice for only those who can afford it is really not justice at all,鈥� he said.

Levin is vice president of criminal justice for the , a conservative think tank based in Austin that has become one of the leading voices for reforming the criminal justice system.

He was speaking at a forum at focused on the concept of 鈥渃ash register justice,鈥� which unfortunately manifests itself in city and county courts all over the country, like those in Missouri that have been charging poor people for their incarceration and then putting them back in jail if they can鈥檛 pay.

When people of little means are treated differently in the courts than people with deep pockets, Levin said, those living in poverty are deprived of their liberty.

On the day Levin was speaking, about 1,000 miles to the west his organization was filing an amicus brief in a 51黑料 case that seeks to end the insidious practice of setting bail without taking the time to determine a defendant鈥檚 ability to pay.

鈥淎 system that deprives individuals of liberty without a meaningful hearing and without regard to their personal circumstances is the very definition of a due process violation. The State may not jail a person solely because he has been arrested, and it may not jail him solely because he is poor. That he is both poor and arrested does not enhance the State鈥檚 claim on his liberty,鈥� the foundation wrote in its brief. 鈥淲orse, the upshot of this regime is that punishment 鈥� indeed, often the only jail time that will be inflicted 鈥� occurs before trial and conviction, perverting the presumption of innocence that underlies our justice system. And this punishment often includes extreme temperatures, vermin infestations, and violence, all without a guilty plea or jury verdict.鈥�

The brief was filed to support a lawsuit filed earlier this year by ArchCity Defenders and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, seeking to declare the application of the city鈥檚 cash bail system unconstitutional. Traditionally, judges in 51黑料 were setting bail without regard to a person鈥檚 circumstances, specifically the ability to pay. The result, of course, was a filling of the city鈥檚 medium security jail, known as the Workhouse, with hundreds of pretrial detainees, some of them on misdemeanors, some facing charges for violence, but nearly none convicted of the crimes of which they were accused.

U.S. District Judge Audrey Fleissig had issued an injunction forcing the city to adjust its bail procedures, but that injunction is on hold while the city appeals her ruling to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, where the Texas Public Policy Foundation filed its brief.

At the time Fleissig issued her original injunction, attorneys for the city鈥檚 judges said that enforcing it would create chaos in the courts, requiring hundreds of hearings in a short amount of time.

Back in New York, a prosecutor from Florida, Tampa鈥檚 Andrew Warren, said that鈥檚 the reality all over the country.

鈥淭he bail system doesn鈥檛 actually follow the law,鈥� Warren said at the Cash Register Justice forum. 鈥淲e detain people for inability to pay hundreds of times a day. It鈥檚 done that way because it鈥檚 a fast-food industry.鈥�

That industry, ignoring constitutional protections in a rush toward mass incarceration, is under attack from many fronts, with most of the attacks focusing on the dichotomy the system creates between those with money and those without.

But it鈥檚 about more than that.

When a city like 51黑料 uses bail as a pretrial punishment tool, the foundation wrote in its brief, it actually makes the community less safe. This is the underlying argument behind the Close the Workhouse movement as well.

鈥�51黑料鈥檚 bail system makes the community weaker by depriving citizens of community ties and the means to support themselves and by increasing the likelihood of future criminal activity,鈥� the foundation鈥檚 brief says.

To support its argument, the foundation refers to that looked at the likelihood of recidivism by people charged with crimes who were held in jail on high bail before trial, compared to those released and allowed to fight their charges while back in the community.

It was the pretrial defendants held in jail who were more likely to commit future crimes.

鈥淟ow-risk defendants held for two to three days were 40 percent more likely to commit new crimes before trial than those held for no more than 24 hours,鈥� the brief says. 鈥淎nd low-risk defendants detained for 31 days or more were 74 percent more likely to commit new crimes before trial.鈥�

Bail isn鈥檛 supposed to be used to punish people accused of crimes, both Levin and Warren said this week. But in 51黑料, that鈥檚 what the practice has been.

Some 鈥渢ough-on-crime鈥� types believe locking up those accused of crimes before they鈥檝e been convicted makes them safer. The reality, say the right-on-crime folks, is different.

51黑料 is less safe when it locks up poor people just because they鈥檙e poor.