Bail Funds Face New Challenges as Police Brutality Protests Continue
Following the police killing of George Floyd and subsequent nationwide protests, social media has lit up with people across the U.S. looking for ways to help out, both on the streets and off. Links to local organizations and funds — first in Minneapolis, then around the country — that combat racism and police brutality and address the needs of black communities have gone viral, including small business funds, mutual aid groups, food drives, and more. But in a show of support for protesters, and with over 10,000 arrests and counting from demonstrations across the U.S., one type of grassroots organization has received the bulk of attention and financial aid: the bail fund.
“Our total support that we’ve received now is at least $3.5 million from at least 75,000 people,” Sharlyn Grace, executive director of the Chicago Community Bond Fund, tells Rolling Stone. And they’re not the only ones. All over the country, bail funds that already existed before George Floyd’s death have received exponentially more donations in the past two weeks than some have received for their entire existence. Perhaps none have received more support than Minneapolis’ own Minnesota Freedom Fund, which was so overloaded with donation requests that it took Steve Boland, an MFF board member, 45 minutes to prepare a single download on Paypal. All in all, the Freedom Fund has received over 800,000 individual donations since Floyd’s death, totaling $31 million – enough for the organization to halt further contributions and redirect the outpouring of support to other local grassroots activists.
In Los Angeles, the Peoples City Council Freedom Fund, initially created in early May as a response to LAPD’s proposed budget increases, has received over $2 million in aid since the protests began. And in New York, two major bail funds — the Brooklyn Bail Fund and Free Them All For Public Health — have had to redirect donors to other community groups due to a surplus of support.
Typically operating as local collectives run by volunteers and, in some cases, pro bono lawyers, bail funds’ objective is to raise funds for freeing jailed individuals who cannot afford bail, and to advocate for bail reform in a system that disproportionately hurts low-income people of color. Some funds may also provide various forms of legal aid – informing clients of court dates, hiring attorneys, and paying for court expenses in subsequent judicial processes. Increasingly, due to the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the carceral system, many funds have devoted themselves to identifying and tracking individuals held in jail cells for prolonged periods of time. This particular issue is only likely to get worse: according to Grace, the Chicago fund currently has two volunteers working on freeing a dozen protesters at Cook County Jail, a major epicenter for the virus. Earlier this week, the Legal Aid Society sued the city of New York, alleging that hundreds of protesters were illegally detained in cramped cells in violation of their right to an arraignment within 24 hours of their arrest.
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/bail-funds-george-floyd-police-brutality-protest-1011007/
