Approved unanimously on June 7, 2022 by the Governing Board of the North Carolina Council of Churches. Updated September 12, 2023.
Considerable empirical evidence demonstrates that the cash bail system is inequitable and ineffective. The cash bail system requires pretrial defendants to pay hundreds to thousands of dollars in nonrefundable fees to for-profit bail agents, typically resulting in low-income individuals agreeing to usurious borrowing terms to obtain funds. Without these funds, individuals must remain in jail while they await trial, sometimes for months, which is estimated to cost counties as much as $100 per day per individual. Approximately 70% of those held pretrial are unable to pay bail. Several municipalities and states throughout the United States, and a few places in North Carolina, have successfully enacted other approaches to pretrial requirements for defendants accused of misdemeanors and some nonviolent felonies.
All faith traditions have as a central tenet, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. In the Abrahamic faiths, both the old and new Testaments of scripture take a dim view of oppressive incarceration. Isaiah proclaims, “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners . . .” (Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11). These verses served as the foundation for the first public sermon Jesus preached (Luke 4:14-21). In Matthew we learn, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. . . . Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For . . . I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you? He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matthew 25:31-33, 41-46 )
Multiple studies, including the work of Jessica Smith, W.R. Kenyan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Government at UNC School of Government, report the need for change based on four problems with the current system: public safety (wealthier individuals can buy their way out of incarceration); cost to taxpayers; fairness (including racial and ethnic disparities); and the risk of costly litigation based on the equal protection clause of the Constitution.
WHEREAS, the U.S. has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, and African Americans, Latinos, Latinas, and indigenous peoples are disproportionately incarcerated in the United States;
WHEREAS, since 2000, the vast majority of the jail population increase was caused by the detention of individuals prior to trial (pretrial), of which 60% to 70% were classified nonviolent minimum-security;
WHEREAS, in 2017, the top 9 insurance companies issued $14b in bail bonds, collecting $2b in fees with very low losses due to bond forfeiture;
WHEREAS, the inability to make cash bail extracts an untold human cost from the accused due to their loss of employment, housing and, often times, family support;
WHEREAS, there are proven instances of inadequate health care for incarcerated persons, those held long-term pretrial have a higher incidence of death and personal injury.
WHEREAS, persons who cannot make bail are poor and four times more likely to receive jail time with sentences three times longer than those who do make bail;
WHEREAS, bail set for people of color exceeds that for whites by 35%;
WHEREAS, three out of four criminal cases in state trial courts are for misdemeanors that would result in fines and/or less than a year in jail;
WHEREAS, political contributions made by the Bail Industry from 2002 to 2016 exceeded $5,000,000;
WHEREAS, in money-based systems, wealthy persons who have high bail amounts by virtue of the seriousness of the crime can still walk free because they are jailed until proven wealthy;
WHEREAS, the US is the only nation besides the Philippines to have a for-profit commercial bail bond industry;
WHEREAS, corporate and/or systemic structures, or individuals which derive profit from the imprisonment of human beings perpetuate the legacy of slavery, oppression and heartless greed which the North Carolina Council of Churches has long sought to expose and correct and;
WHEREAS, we are instructed as followers of Jesus to “Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured” (Hebrews 13:3);
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,
That the North Carolina Council of Churches calls for reform of the for-profit cash bail bond system and encourages alternatives to this system. We encourage our member bodies to raise awareness in their respective congregations about the theological, social, racial, ethnic and economic inequities which vividly expose the unfair and unjust bail bond systems. We encourage our respective congregations to seek partnerships with other organizations in their communities working toward this goal.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,
That the North Carolina Council of Churches petitions the NC Legislature to pass legislation to address the inherent inequity in our current for profit cash bail system, including the following bills from the 2022-2023 session:
- NC House Bill 271, an Act to restrict the imposition of cash bail as a condition of pretrial release when a defendant is charged with only a class 3 (minor) misdemeanor
- NC House Bill 91, an act to create a uniform pretrial release procedures study committee, as recommended by the North Carolina Courts Commission.
- NC House Bill 90, an act to reinstate the discretion of a judicial official in setting appropriate conditions of pretrial release for a defendant that has previously failed to appear in court, as recommended by the North Carolina Courts Commission.
The North Carolina Council of Churches encourages each of its constituent faith organizations to contact their State Representatives, Senators and the Governor in support of this legislation.
