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Community Information Session on Bail Reform
This session will provide the community with updates, information, and perspectives on bail reform in Arizona. Expert panelists include Amelia C. Cramer of NAACP, Laura Conover of the Pima County Attorney’s Office, Tiera Rainey of Tucson Second Chance Bail Fund, Dean Brault Director of the Public Defense Services Department of Pima County, and Isaiah Cotroeno. Kate Vesely of Justice Services will moderate. There are three main purposes of bail within our criminal legal system. The primary purpose is to ensure the attendance of the accused person to their assigned court dates, as well as protect the personhood of the victim and any affected communities. Bail is also intended to limit the intimidation of the victim and witnesses. Bail is imposed by a judge a condition that an arrested person who has been booked into the jail must pay as a condition of pre-trial release from the jail. When an unreasonable bail amount is set, and individuals are unable to post bail, they remain stuck in jail.
However, the misuse of bail plagues our criminal justice system, which has encouraged the entrance of bail reform. When an unreasonable bail amount is set, and individuals are unable to post bail, they are sent to jail. The purpose of bail reform is to regulate the use of bail to reduce pre-trial arrest, and jail as a result. An equitable bail reform would increase the overall fairness
of the criminal justice system. However, as promising as the idea of bail reform is, current-day bail reforms still fail to remedy the
underlying faults of bail. Our panel of experts will discuss the current problems with the bail system and the best way to move forward with reform.
Category: Community | Local / Community
