How the Bail System Really Screws You If You Are Poor

‘Sandra Bland is the one you knew about. In the year after her well-publicized death, 815 people died in jail awaiting trial. A third of them died within the first three days of incarceration. Most were in jail for one reason only: They were too poor to pay bail. This reality is what terrified Tai Sherman’s mother, Tracey, and the reason she spent every dime she had—and a lot she didn’t—to get her daughter out.
Tai’s story is featured in this short film series, The Bail Trap, by Brave New Films, which was produced as part of a major, statewide campaign to end the unjust and ineffective system of money bail in California. Sign up to host a house party or screening to show the short films and get involved in the campaign. Tai’s is a classic case in point of what is wrong with money bail. Tai had no criminal record. She was arrested for driving away while a police officer was trying to arrest an acquaintance of hers for shoplifting $38 worth of stuff—dish soap and the like. For this, Tai was slapped with $100,000 bail.’
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