• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Kentucky Center for Economic Policy

Kentucky Center for Economic Policy

   

  • About Us
  • Press Room
  • Donate
  • Summer Policy Institute 2023

Research That Works for Kentucky

  • Topics
    • Budget & Tax
    • Criminal Justice
    • Economic Security
    • Education
    • Health Care
    • Jobs & The Economy
  • Types
    • News
    • Op-Ed
    • Research

   

  • About Us
  • Press Room
  • Donate
  • Summer Policy Institute 2023

Copyright © 2023 KyPolicy Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Sitemap

News

New Report Reveals an Arbitrary Justice System Across Counties

Anna Baumann | June 11, 2019

Kentuckians presumed innocent should not have their freedom contingent upon their income or where in the state they are arrested. But a new report from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy shows widely varying rates between counties in the use of cash bail and in the ability of those arrested to meet monetary conditions.

The report, “Disparate Justice: Where Kentuckians Live Determines Whether They Stay in Jail Because They Can’t Afford Cash Bail,” explains that in addition to being unfairly applied across counties, cost-prohibitive bail has negative impacts on individuals, their families and communities. Defendants incarcerated pretrial lose income and employment, and are more likely to be found guilty in trial, receive harsh sentences and to plead guilty even when they are innocent.

More On Criminal Justice: House Bill 3 Proposes Harmful, Regressive Policy Changes to Kentucky’s Juvenile System

“Defendants across Kentucky’s 120 counties shouldn’t face incarceration just because they can’t afford bail,” KCEP Senior Policy Analyst Dr. Ashley Spalding, said. “But the data suggests that they do, and that the state has a costly and arbitrary system of justice based on location.”

For instance, the share of cases granted release pretrial without monetary conditions ranges from just 5% in McCracken County to 68% in Martin County. And just 17% of cases subject to monetary bail in Wolfe County result in the defendant finding a way to make the payment while 99% do in Hopkins County. Over-incarcerating people pretrial also contributes to the overcrowding of our local jails. 

“Reforming our dramatically inconsistent bail system should be a top legislative priority,” said Spalding. “Better standards can help address local disparities and make sure that, as a state, we limit the high costs of incarceration to our families and communities, not to mention local budgets.”

You can read the report here: Disparate Justice: Where Kentuckians Live Determines Whether They Stay in Jail Because They Can’t Afford Cash Bail

FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail

Primary Sidebar

Get KyPolicy news updates in your inbox

Sign Up

Sidebar

Perspectives

Shorting State Workers’ Pay Hurts Us All

Cutting Bourbon Industry Taxes Harms the Communities That Sustain It

Lawmakers Should Help Our Kids, Not Lock More Up in Failing Juvenile System

Income Tax Reduction Is Another Blow to Rural Kentucky

Kentucky Should Not Volunteer for Greater Inequality by Becoming More Like Tennessee

Other Criminal Justice Items

News

Local Jails Seeing Rise in Inmate Populations

News

How Legislators, Jailers Aim to Fight Recidivism, Overcrowding in Kentucky Jails

News

KY Jails Are Again Overfilling After COVID Restrictions Lift. Will New Laws Make It Worse?

Ky. Policy

Footer

Research that works for Kentucky

433 Chestnut Street, Berea, KY 40403

Phone: 859-756-4605

General information and inquiries: info@kypolicy.org

   

Help us make the facts free and accessible to everyone. That’s how Kentucky will thrive.

Donate

  • Topics
    • Budget & Tax
    • Criminal Justice
    • Economic Security
    • Education
    • Health Care
    • Jobs & The Economy
  • Work
    • News
    • Op-Ed
    • Research
  • About Us
  • Press Room
  • Contact

Get KyPolicy news updates in your inbox

Sign Up

Copyright © 2023 KyPolicy Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Sitemap

made by P&P
Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!