A federal lawsuit filed in 2016 argued that the county’s misdemeanor bail system effectively jailed people for being poor, ...

In most places in America, people have long had the right, if accused of a crime, to buy their freedom back from the government. Cash bail — the requirement that a person who has been arrested pay the ...

People awaiting trial in Illinois will soon no longer need to come up with cash bail. The Illinois Supreme Court upheld this week a 2021 law that eliminated the cash bail system. "Someone's experience ...

New executive orders from the White House aimed at stopping bail reform have put Illinois — the first state to completely eliminate cash bond — into the spotlight of a national debate on bail and ...

When Camilla Broderick was arrested for selling drugs, the court set her bail at $2,500. She could walk out of jail before her trial - if she had the cash. "I was able to pay bail because my dad ran ...

States are making major progress in reforming our nation’s cash bail system. An estimated half-million Americans are in county jails right now, because they can’t afford to pay bail. Critics call the ...

In 2015, a pregnant and homeless 30-year-old woman spent 135 days in an Illinois jail because she stole two plums and three candy bars from a Save A Lot store. That same year, a 41-year-old Illinois ...

In yet another headline-grabbing announcement, Philadelphia’s new District Attorney Larry Krasner on Wednesday proclaimed the end of cash bail requirements for low-level offenses effective immediately ...

The long national debate over cash bail reignited in summer 2025 after the White House issued an executive order in August threatening to pull federal funding from jurisdictions that allow cashless ...

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... This week, President Donald Trump took aim at Illinois’ Pretrial Fairness Act, which ended cash bail in the state in 2023. Trump pledged to repeal the Act ...

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President Trump recently issued an executive order in an attempt to end pretrial reform in states across the country. He has railed against bail reform in the press, as well as on social media. He has ...