Study: Cash bail disproportionally harms Black, Latino Hoosiers in Marion County justice system

A new study from the IU Public Policy Institute argues that the racial and economic disparities found across the criminal justice system are being exacerbated by one thing in Marion County.

Cash bail.

The explanation is complicated and winding — particularly for people who are unfamiliar with the nebulous connections between arrest, jail and court — but the gist is this: Not only are Black and Latino people more likely to face harsher punishments compared to white people, they also tend to face higher bail amounts while in jail.

The policy paper, published by researchers at the IU Public Policy Institute's Center for Research on Inclusion and Social Policy, cites past research on the topics.

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The paper emphasizes research that found average bail amounts are 35% higher for Black men and 19% higher for Latino men than for white men accused of similar crimes. Latino people also more likely to be detained in drug cases, the paper notes, compared to white people.

Put another way: While white people or people with money are able to afford bail prior to their court dates, Black and Latino people are more likely to remain stuck in jail — which can result in them losing their jobs, homes and custody of their children.

Those inequities carry through the system, the paper notes, resulting in disparities in conviction rates, debt tied to court fees and incarceration.

"The bottom line here is that there's not a lot of evidence that pretrial detention actually ensures public safety," said Krystal Gibson, a researcher who authored the study. "And it's also harmful to individuals in the community as a whole as it can lead to higher homelessness rates and poverty rates, and disproportionately impacts Black and Latinx individuals."

As one snapshot, Marion County Jail data obtained by IndyStar shows that nearly 60% of the jail population is Black, while the county's Black population is closer to 29%.

Low-income people also often find themselves stuck in jail while awaiting trial simply because they cannot afford bail, which is the amount of money defendants are required to put up to ensure they appear in court. (If they don’t show up, the court can keep the money.)

One nonprofit organization is trying to change that. The Bail Project, which started operating in Indianapolis in 2018, essentially tries to level the playing field by covering the cost of bail for people who lack the means to pay the cash themselves.

But the organization has found itself under increasing scrutiny by local media and Republican office-holders because the nonprofit played a role in bailing out two people who were later charged with murder and a third person who was later accused of stabbing two Indianapolis police officers.

Republican lawmakers passed House Bill 1300 this year to target The Bail Project. The bill, signed by Gov. Eric Holcomb, prevents charitable bail organizations from bailing out people accused of violent crimes and bans them from receiving taxpayer dollars. The organization fought back this month, filing a lawsuit against the state of Indiana seeking to nullify the law. The suit is pending.

Supporters of the new law, including Republican state lawmakers and the bail bond industry, have said The Bail Project needed to be regulated because, they argued, the organization contributed to Indianapolis' growing homicide problem.

An IndyStar investigation published in March, however, reached a different conclusion. The investigation found The Bail Project tied to just 1% of murder cases filed in Marion County. Commercial bond agents, meanwhile, bailed out more people who were later accused of murder.

The IU policy paper briefly explores the new law, too. While it's not yet known, the new law limiting the use of charitable bail could further exacerbate racial and economic disparities tied to cash bail because low-income people will be forced to rely on the private, for-profit bail bond industry at even higher levels.

"These limitations create a dependency on the private bail bond industry," the paper notes, adding that the private bond companies do not typically offer other services to encourage people to appear in court, such as transportation or court date reminders.

Jeffrey Clayton, executive director of the American Bail Coalition, disputed a portion of the study that essentially suggested that Indiana consider pretrial detention reform efforts that were implemented in New Jersey, where jail populations declined over the past two decades. Clayton said no study has effectively linked those declines with reform.

"This may be termed a new report," Clayton said in a statement, "but in actuality it is a rehash of inaccurate national talking points debunked long ago."

Twyla Carter, national legal and policy director at The Bail Project, said the nonprofit will continue working to help people who are struggling because of cash bail.

"Black communities bear the brunt of these abuses," Carter said in a statement. "It is unconscionable that instead of working to take money out of the system and make it more just, members of the legislature and the governor chose to target one of the only lifelines poor Hoosiers have when their liberty and due process rights are at stake."

The IU Public Policy Institute paper cites The Bail Project's data, noting that the organization pays an average bail amount of $2,125.

The policy paper notes the bail bond industry does not publicly share data, making it impossible to compare the industry's effectiveness against charitable bail organizations.

The new law might help that, though: The law requires the judicial administration to begin tracking the names of bail agents and their license numbers. It could allow future researchers to analyze who is posting cash or surety bonds.

Contact IndyStar investigative reporter Ryan Martin at ryan.martin@indystar.com or by phone, Signal or WhatsApp at 317-500-4897. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter: @ryanmartin.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Cash bail harms Black, Latino Hoosiers in Marion County justice system, study says