A bill in the Ohio House attempts to reform the criminal justice system by basing bail on a person's risk to society rather than their financial situation. The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio likes the idea but says more should be done to stave off any bias. Ohio Public Radio's Andy Chow reports.
Liberal and conservative groups both want changes in the criminal justice system. But when it comes to a new attempt to change the way bail is determined, the ACLU isn’t quite on board.
The bill would attach bail to risk, the lower a person’s risk, the lower the bail.
Brickner: “But it could just bless the disparities that are already going on.”
The ACLU’s Mike Brickner says, for example, people who fail to appear in court for past offenses earn a higher risk assessment.
Brickner: “When you look at the number of fail to appears, you’ll see more people of color, more low income people skewing that number.”
Brickner suggests having a list of lower level crimes that are pre-determined to not require bail, unless a prosecutor argues otherwise.