Talk:American Bail Coalition
According to the American Bail Coalition website, in October 2013 the organization expanded its mission and "recast itself with the singular goal of developing a system of best practices to be adopted by state government that maximizes the pretrial release of criminal defendants, minimizes days between arrest and pretrial release of criminal defendants".[1]
Contents
The Justice Policy Institute's Call to Eliminate for Profit Bail Bonding
In September 2012, The Justice Policy Institute, a non-profit "working to reduce the use of incarceration and the justice system", released a report calling for the "elimination of for-profit bail bonding as part of justice system".[2]
Key points in the report include the following:
- Bail amounts are increasing
- Political influence keeps bail bondsmen in business
- ALEC has been a driver of harmful bail legislation since 1994
- By its very nature, for-profit bail is ripe for corruption and abuse
- Alternatives to for-profit bail bonding exist and are effective
Reporting on ABC
A Mother Jones review of 2012 financial records for 32 surety companies revealed that American Bail Coalition controls 60% of bonds in the $13.5 billion industry. An associated article that was published in Mother Jones in May/June 2014 describes how upon its founding, the American Bail Coalition successfully lobbied to increase the prevalence of commercial bail and to increase bail amounts for felony cases.
- Before ABC began lobbying, in 1990, commercial bail accounted for just 23 percent of pretrial releases, while release on recognizance accounted for 40 percent. Today, only 23 percent of those let go before trial are released on recognizance, while 49 percent must purchase commercial bail. Since 1990, average bail amounts have almost tripled for felony cases. Between 2004 and 2012, revenues of the ABC companies whose income comes almost entirely from bail increased 21 percent.[3]
The article concludes that the potential for abuse in the commercial bail industry is major, and that abuses periodically take place and are reported on in the media.[4]
Financials
2012[5]
- Total Revenue - $365,000
- Reported Compensation for Dennis A. Bartlett (Executive Director Emeritus & Research Director) - $143,000
Leadership
- Dennis A. Bartlett - Executive Director Emeritus & Research Director
- Nicholas J. Wachinski, Esquire - Executive Director[6]
Contact
American Bail Coalition
Telephone: 1-855-718-3006
Address:
235 N. Duke St.
Lancaster, PA 17602
- ↑ American Bail Coalition, About Us, organizational website, accessed July 2014.
- ↑ Justice Policy Institute, http://www.justicepolicy.org/uploads/justicepolicy/documents/For Better or for Profit: How the Bail Bonding Industry Stands in the Way of Fair and Effective Pretrial Justice, September 2012, accessed July 21, 2014.
- ↑ Shane Bauer, Inside the Wild, Shadowy, and Highly Lucrative Bail Industry, "Mother Jones", May/June 2014 Issue.
- ↑ Shane Bauer, Inside the Wild, Shadowy, and Highly Lucrative Bail Industry, "Mother Jones", May/June 2014 Issue.
- ↑ Guidestar, 2012 990, accessed July 22, 2014.
- ↑ American Bail Coalition, About Us, accessed July 22, 2014.
