New Short Film Brings to Life Inequities of the Cash Bail System
05.20.16 By Carlita Salazar
In the past year, there’s been a growing level of media attention around the country’s bail system. Much of the focus has rightfully been on the racial and economic inequities that the system perpetuates. As the “Innocence Blog” has written in the past, innocent people can sit in pre-trial jail for months and years—away from their families and jobs—for the mere fact that they cannot afford to meet bail. A five-minute documentary, Limbo, made as part of the Take 5 series for the SundanceNow Doc Club and recently shared on Vox, captures the stories of three men who have not yet been convicted but remain in jail because they are too poor to pay bail, and drives home why the system is a disruption to families and communities—most of them poor and of color.
Related: Pretrial Justice Institute Launches Campaign to End Cash Bail Featuring Chris Ochoa
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September 16, 2017 at 12:04 am
May 22, 2016 at 9:51 am
Thank you. Very well done. Great message on social justice. Bail is critically flawed. I also believe that those that don’t raise bail have a higher conviction rate, not sure exactly why, but may be due to inability to hire an attorney. A related project might be on the public defenderes, the time they spend with their “clients” and the bad deals they often drive them toward without the (now) convict understanding the longer term implications. Animation was awesome. Thank you again.
How long is the film?
What if we want to show it here(in California)?
Gail Sredanovi