Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: Most people in the U.S. who are being held in jail have not been convicted of a crime. Instead, they are awaiting trial. For some, that wait can take weeks or even years if they can t afford to pay a cash bail to be released. That practice is controversial. While a few states have taken steps to change their cash bail system, Illinois will become the first to ditch it entirely. NPR s Cheryl Corley reports.
CHERYL CORLEY, BYLINE: Critics of cash bail have a name for it. They call it the poor people s tax, leaving those who can t come up with the money for bail stuck in jail while they wait for their case to be heard. Fifty-seven-year-old Flonard Wrencher says he knows all about that.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: Most people in the U.S. who are being held in jail have not been convicted of a crime. Instead, they are awaiting trial. For some, that wait can take weeks or even years if they can t afford to pay a cash bail to be released. That practice is controversial. While a few states have taken steps to change their cash bail system, Illinois will become the first to ditch it entirely. NPR s Cheryl Corley reports.
CHERYL CORLEY, BYLINE: Critics of cash bail have a name for it. They call it the poor people s tax, leaving those who can t come up with the money for bail stuck in jail while they wait for their case to be heard. Fifty-seven-year-old Flonard Wrencher says he knows all about that.