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Bails in most major cities are a scam.

I had a $0 bail for a misdemeanor (first time offense). Then two former federal prosecutors got involved in my case and had the Judge revoke my bail and set it for $75,000.

I spent 5 weeks in LA County jail trying to fight my case until I gave in, brutalized by the conditions and the endless fake court appearances (dry runs). The people that work in that industry are dangerous, deluded and wreak havoc in communities.

I feel so much empathy for the hundreds of thousands of LA inmates who are unfairly subjugated to such a system. It is perpetuating chaos, gangs and fractured lives.

The FBI has video surveillance cameras in all the jails because of police abuse and the former Sheriff is heading to federal prison.

I commend any group trying to fight for reform. LA's problems are directly tied to malicious and excessive policing, bails and boilerplate plea deals.

The org that is running this has actually been around for a few years already (and is not a SV tech company) and has a 90% non-flight rate. So presumably they don't just randomly select people and actually evaluate who they're going to post bail for.

This stunt seems more like a way to market for donations. Agree that it's unlikely to generate much, and the electricity cost means it'd be way more efficient to just donate money directly.

Certainly a legislative solution to the injustices around bail is the right way to go, but I'm not holding my breath for something like that any time soon. Hopefully orgs like this are just an interim, stopgap measure, though.

> Bail is designed to prevent flight risk.

“Rationalized” rather than designed.

> It is set high enough that you'd have a hard time coming up with that much money without being forced to stay and appear.

In practice, it's not for the rich, and it's set high enough that the poor can't afford bonds much less the bail itself.

> Having strangers pay your bail means you have no reason to stay.

The project this provides an additional funding stream for already exists, and the vast majority of people whose bail is funded do not skip, so this is empirically not the case.

> People having a hard time making bail is working-as-intended.

It's clearly not working as intended by anyone who would fund the project this funds.

> If you dislike it, write to your senator.

Seeking change in the laws (which many people are, at local, state, and national levels) is not incompatible with seeking to take legal steps to mitigate harms of the current system in the meantime.

Maybe it's you who is doing Silicon Valley thinking, ranting at length about something you are wholly uninformed about.

https://brooklynbailfund.org/

So, how well does that theory match reality?

Does it actually in practice prevent flight, or does it just fuck over people who can't pay?

Well, it DOES prevent flight. Does it do it in the best way possible? Probably no. But it does prevent flight. You cannot flee if you're stuck in jail.

Like I said. This is a problem that need to be solved legislatively, not by paying others' bail inefficiently.

No one's interested in hearing why their real-world solutions aren't as good as your theoretical non-solution.