One of the impoverished women freed by @MassBailOut after being caged on Rikers on $750 bail for stealing a pair of shoes, didn’t show up to her court date today. Twice calling her a “jail bird,” the NY Post, in classic classless form, jumped all over her.nypost.com/2018/10/23/rik…
“A black eye for the RFK charity.” The story is Willie Horton-style reporting. Breathless. Seemingly excited that they get to prove from one single imperfection, one misstep, that @RFKHumanRights & others who supported the action & bail reform generally blew it. It’s a lazy take.
At base, I believe that it is *wrong* that anyone should be imprisoned solely because they are too poor to afford to buy their freedom. There is no good reason that Weinstein should be free bc he can afford $1 million, but this woman should not be bc she couldn’t afford $750.
So frankly, whether or not she showed up today, she should never have been imprisoned to begin with. On bail set obviously beyond her means. An amount of money which forced her to sit, pretrial, presumed innocent, in one of the most violent jails/prisons in the country.
Why was she arrested & charged? She was walking around with a pair of shoes that weren’t hers & a crack pipe was found on her. This woman needed help, not an arrest. Clothing not a charge. Substance treatment, not jail. You can’t deter poverty or addiction with incarceration.
But according to the Post, she was “caught red-handed” (unbearable cliche) & those shoes were taken from an apt. This woman was likely not only charged, but charged w/ a *violent burglary* just based on the location. Most of the “violent” crimes I see have no violence whatsoever.
The Post can’t mask their disgust (or is it giddiness?) that after this all, she failed to show today: “The charity is likely out the dough, bc she *couldn’t be bothered* to show up to her first court date since it got her freed.” Let me tell you why clients sometimes dont show.
My clients do not flee prosecution. Most haven’t left the city let alone state. Public transport costs a fortune. They have health issues, conflicting appointments, childcare obligations, school, work, housing problems. Sometimes they just forget. Who knows why she didn’t show.
Of the small percentage (5%) of clients who do miss, they ultimately come back. Often within a day or a week. Most of the time voluntarily. The rest, inevitably picked up by a beat officer or the warrant squad. They’re often re-released & given another chance w/ an explanation.
An explanation is all the Judge wants before deciding whether to keep the bail money: “I want to see where she is [first].” If & when she shows back up, I’m hopeful the judge (who I know well & is kind) will allow her another chance instead of stripping her of her liberty again.
Last point. Her court date was scheduled in Mental Health Court. This means that the prosecution is offering her treatment in lieu of incarceration. The Brooklyn DA has declared that no one should be jailed pretrial if they won’t seek jail time. Another reason she should be free.
