Quicktake
Is Cash Bail Reform Working? Behind the Controversy
A man pays cash bail in a bond office at the Cook County Jail.
Photographer: Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service/Getty ImagesBail has become the center of a heated political debate across the US. A 2022 report by the US Commission on Civil Rights found that 60% of defendants wind up in jail awaiting trial because they can’t afford to post bail. A particular target of reform efforts is so-called cash bail.
Read More: What to Know About the Debate Over US Bail Reform