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To: Philadelphia City Council, Mayor of Philadelphia, and The Office of The District Attorney

End Cash Bail In Philly

We, the undersigned residents of the city of Philadelphia, urge you to take immediate action to end cash bail in Philadelphia. People should not be denied due process and held in jail simply because they are poor and can't afford to pay bail.

Why is this important?

We must end cash bail if we want to significantly decrease Philadelphia's overreliance on incarceration. Every day, there are thousands of people held in Philadelphia's jails solely because they cannot afford to pay for their release. Over 75% of people in Philadelphia's county jails are being held pretrial, often for many months, denying their fundamental right of the presumption of "innocent until proven guilty". Removing this barrier of cash bail allows a person to pursue their own legal defense while minimizing potential collateral consequences of their arrest.

As bail reform sweeps the country, we want to see our city step up and put an end to the human rights violation of cash bail. The Department of Justice has already announced that our nation's current money bail system is unconstitutional, and our neighbors are leading the way for us -- New Jersey recently passed comprehensive bail reform policies, and Washington DC ended their use of cash bail years ago. Other cities have successfully changed their pre-trial detention process without an adverse impact on public safety, while at the same time protecting the rights of the accused and providing accountability to ensure appearance in court. Cash bail only serves as a tool of oppression against the poor and against Black and Brown people who are disproportionately impacted, and perpetuates the machine of mass incarceration.

We believe nobody should have to pay for their freedom, and we urge Philadelphia City Council, Mayor Kenney and the District Attorney's Office to take action now to put an end to cash bail.

Philadelphia, PA, United States

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Updates

2017-04-12 13:25:58 -0700

1,000 signatures reached

2017-04-07 17:05:32 -0700

500 signatures reached

2017-03-29 06:09:42 -0700

100 signatures reached

2017-03-24 17:50:49 -0700

50 signatures reached

2017-03-24 11:23:49 -0700

25 signatures reached

2017-03-24 09:17:34 -0700

10 signatures reached