2nd argument (Ingrid):

Counter Arguments:
● While the cash bail system affects minorities and poor people, the new system that would
be put in place has more consequences that affect everyone. While trying to fix the
problem of having many poor people in jail, the new system has created more.
● While he only stole minor items, he still broke into the victims house scarring that family
in ways that we could never know.
● Just because there are many people incarcerated for minor crimes, does not mean there is
a need to reform the entire system. The problem is that bail is set too high for these
people to afford, which is not a reason to scrap the entire system. There is a need to get to
the issue at its core which means regulating how the bail amount is set not getting rid of
the entire system in the first place.
● The new system still forces people to be in jail for three days, meaning that they could
lose their jobs, homes and families just as under the new reformed bail system.
● While the cash bail system keeps people in jail and needs tax payer money, the new
process not only has already used millions of dollars but needs more to sustain the
technology needed to sustain the system. /
Main Argument:
● When people that are actually a risk are let out of jail as a result of the new process, it can
become a danger to society
○ Jules Black was arrested in New Jersey for illegal possession of a deadly weapon.
This was in April of 2017, just months after the new bail system had been put into
place. Due to the nature of the new system, Black was let out of jail back into
society until his trial. Although his scores on the Public Safety Assessment, or the
computer algorithm that determines whether or not you are a threat, are not public
information, it can be assumed that his numbers were low, leaving judges
composed about letting him out of jail. Just days after he was let out, awaiting his
trial, he killed a young man named Christian Rogers. According to Wider
Horizons for You and Yours, Rogers’ mother knew that there had been a bit of an
argument between Black and Rogers about a music video that Rogers had planned
on shooting. Rogers was “not worried” about Black ​because​ he had been in jail.
The new system allowed for him to be released back into society, just for him to
kill an innocent man who had a family and children and a full life ahead of him.
○ This would not happen with cash bail, when a crime is severe, bail is set
accordingly or not set at all, ensuring that the defendant will not be let out of jail.
○ They may also be a risk to themselves
■ While in jail it can be safer for those who are addicted to drugs, as it is a
place where they can get clean
 ■ According to CBS 6 News in Albany, a County Sheriff has established a
program that helps people who are addicted get clean when they are in jail.
● Many people get admitted to jail by loved ones who want them to
get clean.
● The Sheriff created a program called SHARP, which stands for
Sheriff’s Heroin Addiction Recovery Program. This program helps
those that are addicted when they come into jail to get clean and
has a high success rate.
● With the new system in place, because many of the people that are
put in jail for misdemeanors have to do with drugs, they are let out
of jail and back onto the streets, often turning back to the same
drugs that aren’t safe.
● It doesn’t only affect people within the jails, it affects the communities as well.
○ Many bail bondsmen are going to lose their jobs as a result of the new reformed
system.
■ With people being let out without bail, or bail never being set in the first
place, there is no need for bail bondsman and they are going out of
business.
■ According to the New York Times, a New Jersey bail bondsman named
Kirk Shaw, recognized that the new system was tearing apart their
fourth-generation business stating, “We’re basically out of business.
We’re expected to monitor the defendants we do have out on bail, but we
have no money coming in. This is all I’ve done since I was 18.”
■ This new system is taking away jobs from family businesses and leaving
people with no income