The United States is known for having one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, fueled by the Drug War, a bought-off justice system, and the ever-flourishing prison-industrial complex.
With special interests from police unions to prison guard unions fueling mass incarceration (to say nothing of the private prison lobby), it is not difficult to understand why the supposedly freest country in the world has so much of its population behind bars.
At face value, the system’s corruption and breadth appear too overwhelming to tackle head on, but a new app places power in the hands of ordinary consumers, allowing them to chip away at some of the seemingly intractable authority of the U.S. prison system.
Appolition — a combination of “app” and “abolition” — is a simple program that allows users to donate pennies from their everyday purchases toward bail funds for people who otherwise cannot afford to gather the money. It simply rounds up transaction amounts on debit, credit, and Paypal to the nearest dollar and donates the difference to National Bail Out, an organization of grassroots groups that work “to end money bail and in the meantime get as many people out of cages and back to their families as we can.” Ultimately, this provides an easy, effective opportunity to disrupt a major component of mass incarceration.
According to National Bail Out:
“Everyday tens of thousands of people languish in jail simply because they cannot afford bail. In addition to the over $9 billion wasted to incarcerate people who have been convicted of no crime, pre-trial incarceration has catastrophic impacts on families and communities. Even a few days in jail can ruin a person’s life. They may lose their job, their family may lose housing and some even lose their children.”
Bail is so central to the American justice system that a $2 billion industry has cropped up around it. Much of the growth of mass incarceration is driven by the war on drugs. As
National Bail Out notes:
“Since 1980, the number of incarcerated people has grown by 500%. Fed by a racist War on Drugs, that our current Attorney General Jeff Sessions is trying to resurrect, millions of people have been taken from their families.”
By some measures, the incarceration rate has actually grown 1,000 percent since 1980, and at least part of this is due to the drug prohibition (it’s worth noting that Sessions isn’t so much “resurrecting” the Drug War as he is continuing it; though President Obama made some reforms, including not prosecuting cannabis offenses in states where it’s legal, his administration very much maintained the status quo).
Regardless, as National Bail Out highlights, the Drug War has, indeed, disproportionately affected minorities. For example, the ACLU has noted that “[m]arijuana use is roughly equal among blacks and whites, yet Blacks are 3.73 times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession.”
However, the injustice is not only evident in Drug War cases. Troy Wilson, who developed the underlying technology for Appolition, experienced the system’s bail problem first-hand, and thanks to friends, was able to make his payment. However, he told Wired of other, not-so-happy endings. As the outlet summarized:
“Kalief Browder, a 16-year-old accused of stealing a backpack who, unable to meet a $3,000 bail, spent three years at New York’s Rikers Island before charges were dismissed. In 2015, haunted by those three years plagued by violence and long stints in solitary confinement, Browder hanged himself.”
According to 2014 data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), on any given day 450,000 people are behind bars simply awaiting trial.
This is no small number, and Appolition aims to reduce the amount of time individuals, in particular people of color, spend behind bars before ever having their day in court.
In May of last year, National Bail Out was able to raise $1 million for a Mother’s Day campaign, freeing 106 mothers across the country. They were able to facilitate the release of 71 additional people in June and August
Users can sign up for the app here and can also make direct one-time or recurring donations.
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Do you think that it might just feed into a higher price for bail?
I read an article once that showed bail prices climbing because of a thriving bail bond industry(and that bail is merely another form of government extortion)
So wouldn't the "market" reaction to incoming dollars from this app be to increase bail?
It happened with college tuition. Free money poured in and prices went up.
I think having to post bail is a really crummy spot to be in, and I think most people in that spot are in need of help(because they don't deserve the extortion). I just worry about the fact that the money goes straight to government.
I don't have an "answer" for the problem of bail. I just see natural patterns well(Since, I don't believe in statism).
Maybe there could be an app that gives money to the individuals who choose not to post bail? Or one that connects non-violent victims of government with community support for jobs and getting back on their feet?
I appreciate your work and am glad you are giving me another reason to spend time on steemit.
I was just thinking that.
Readily providing bail just makes the courts want to charge more for bail.
Fighting against an unjust court system, and bloated government, is the real solution.
The system is out of control and geared toward generating revenue. Imagine paying a lawyer $5000 to fight a $200 fine. What would you do?
Edit: choose carefully; if you pay the fine the arrest record stands and could cost you more than $5000 in the long run. On the other hand, hiring the lawyer is no guarantee that you'll win your case.
This. Is. AWESOME. Resteeming! Thanks for getting the word out about this app, I am absolutely going to check it out and download it. I agree that the money bail system contributes to the corruption of the system, the stories of kids like Kalief break my heart. This system is NOT fair and it destroys lives and families. I am glad ot be able to hopefully help contribute towards its' eventual END.
I live in South Africa and was not aware of how bad the situations is, shocking that this has become a flourishing industry! I think the initiative by Troy Wilson is a good one and I hope that it is something that people will support. Is this app only available for American citizens?
Great news about this app. I hope it's a success. I live in the UK and in many respects our prison system is going the way of the US's, with increasing prison privatisation and prisoners providing cheap labour for profit-making firms that compete against other businesses. It's an iniquitous industry, and it's an outrage that our tax money is used to support it.
I agree, awesome, insightful post & you brought awareness to people like me who've never heard of this. I think this is a great idea & a good start to helping one another because unfortunately it's become painfully apparent that our governments are doing nothing to help their own people, and it's us every day citizens that need to step up & start fighting for each other. I'm also resteeming this. Thank you!!
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http://theantimedia.org/appolition-app-mass-incarceration/