Background of the LDF Attack on New York's Bail System 2
Press Release
August 1, 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 April 29, 2025.
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o r b 5 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. =30=