Background of the LDF Attack on New York's Bail System 2

Press Release
August 1, 1969

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Background of the LDF Attack on New York's Bail System 2 preview

Date is approximate (written as "August-September 1969").

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  • Press Releases, Volume 6. Background of the LDF Attack on New York's Bail System 2, 1969. 81a4f9ad-b992-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/0bb938bc-5e06-49a9-a514-fb98620574c3/background-of-the-ldf-attack-on-new-yorks-bail-system-2. Accessed October 29, 2025.

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BACKGROUND OF LDF ATTACK ON N.Y. BAIL SYSTEM 2. 

Research has demonstrated that fof certain defendants money 

bail was not only inequitable but unnecessary. The Manhattan Bail 

Project between 1961 and 1964 showed that 98% of a group of 3,500 

defendants would return to court even if no money bond were required. 

The Federal Bail Reform Act of 1966 was an attempt to deal with 

the problem of bail for indigents, but its effect has been to serve 

as a guide to judges to determine those individuals that are not 

so-called high risks. It did very little about bail treatment for 

the risk defendant. 

As a result of these two projects there is a growing awareness 

around the country of the need for bail reform and the need to pro- 

vide a fairer and more efficient pre-trial release procedure. 

Although New York City might be considered the birthplace of modern 

bail reform, the City now operates a wasteful, inefficient, unfair 

and even cruel system of jailing the poor before they are tried and 

convicted, according to Mr. Greenberg. 

The following facts support his contention: 

* Well over half of all defendants charged with felonies are 
detained because they cannot post the amount of bail imposed 

upon them. 

* Money bail is set in 85% of all felony cases, 52% of all mis- 
demeanor cases and 50% of all petty offense cases. 

* Pretrial detention frequently lasts for weeks in relatively 
minor cases and for many months in serious ones. LDF recently 
received a request for legal assistance from a defendant who 
has been hedd@ over 16 months without trial--which he has still 
not received. 

Because of the double standard exercised by the bail system, the 

poor and especially the black poor find it very difficult to have 

faith in a legal system that says men are equal and innocent until 

proven guilty and yet denies them their basic freedom because they 

lack one thing--money. 

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