Research and Advocacy

Bail Issues and Resources

• Pretrial Working Group - "We have the responsibility to ensure that the amount of money a person has does not affect the kind of justice they receive in our state. New, costly, and ineffective jails are not the solution."
• Pretrial Justice Institute - "The Pretrial Justice Institute’s core purpose is to advance safe, fair, and effective juvenile and adult pretrial justice practices and policies that honor and protect all people. "
• Center for Legal and Evidence-Based Practices (CLEBP) - "The CLEBP is a Colorado nonprofit corporation that strives to reform America's predominantly money-based bail system by promoting rational, fair, and transparent legal and evidence-based pretrial practices to achieve safer and more equitable communities as well as cost-effective government. "  The execute director, Timothy Schnacke also writes a more personal, experience based, blog about the state of the current bail system in the United States; Bail Basics.  

Reports

• MassInc - Exploring the Potential for Pretrial Innovation in Massachusetts.  Report co-authored by Massachusetts Bail Fund intern Alexander Jones and MassInc.  
• Massachusetts Bail Fund & Northeastern University School of Law Project - Massachusetts Bail: Alternatives and Opportunities. 
• The Vera Institute of Justice recently published a report on the misuse of jails in America. Read it here. 
• The American Bar Association regularly updates and publishes its Standards for Criminal Justice: Pretrial Release. Read them here.
• The Human Rights Watch published a report on problems with the bail system in New York City, most of which are also true in Massachusetts. Read it here.

News Articles and Interviews

The Massachusetts Bail Fund

2014

• Troustine, Jean. "Why Bail Jails Are a Bad Idea." Boston Magazine 6 Feb. 2014 

Bail Issues and Resources

2015

• Talbot, Margaret. "The Case Against Cash Bail - The New Yorker." The New Yorker. Conde Nast, 25 Aug. 2015. Web. 28 Aug. 2015.
• Pinto, Nick. "The Bail Trap." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Aug. 2015. Web. 28 Aug. 2015.
• Kintzele, Sue, and Maria Kaczmarek. "Kind World #15: Sister Sue, The Nun At The County Jail." Interview by Zack Ezor. Kind Word. WBUR. Boston, MA, 26 Feb. 2015. Radio

2012

• Reckdahl, Katy. "Jailed without Conviction: Behind Bars for Lack of Money." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor
  

2010

• Sullivan, Laura. "Behind the Bail Bond System." NPR. NPR, 22 Jan. 2010;  NPR three-part series on the stark realities people who can't make bail face and some of the harsh inequities of the bail system