In what can sometimes feel like a hopeless world, we love a story of two people coming together and turning their love into action. That’s precisely what Bail Project supporters Jackie and Tom did.

Both dedicated to justice, Jackie and Tom couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate their wedding day than to incorporate support for a meaningful cause to both of them. Instead of a gift registry, the two asked their guests to contribute to The Bail Project. 

There’s nothing quite like being surrounded by the warmth of loved ones during the holidays. For the nearly half a million people currently incarcerated pretrial in the U.S., the chance to be home for the holidays means everything. But, for that to become a reality for many, it takes the power of a community. It takes the gift of freedom. 

Every day, the generosity of Bail Project supporters across the nation enables our team to help people in their darkest hour – bailing them out of jail and helping them navigate the criminal legal system by connecting them to community-based services as they await trial. For many of our clients, paying their bail can change the course of their life. 

Our client Ashley, who was nearly eight months pregnant when the Oklahoma City police threw her to the ground and forced her into handcuffs because of an outstanding warrant, knows how damaging pretrial incarceration is. Like the countless people who miss court dates daily for numerous reasons, Ashley was arrested for unintentionally missing her court date. Still, a judge set her bail at an unaffordable $11,500, resulting in her being incarcerated in one of the deadliest correctional facilities in the country for three weeks. She was terrified she’d have to deliver her baby in jail.

When our client Sandra was involved in a dispute with her landlord, she was arrested and held on $150,000 bail. While in jail, Sandra lost her job and her car and feared losing custody of her children. Her sister could not care for them much longer after Sandra was incarcerated and considered putting them in foster care. 

When Robert, who suffered from lupus, back pain, arthritis, and kidney problems and was experiencing homelessness, was pulled over while giving a friend a ride, he was shocked to learn his friend had illegal drugs. Both he and his friend were arrested on the spot. Robert spent nearly a month in jail because he couldn’t afford his $2,000 bail. 

Stories like Ashley’s, Sandra’s, and Robert’s are why your support is so important – our incredible community stepped up in their greatest time of need to secure their freedom and connect them to voluntary support services. 

For many people trapped behind bars pretrial, they are left with an impossible choice – making it home to their families often means having to accept a plea and forfeit their innocence. By providing free bail assistance, we are able to reunite families and restore the presumption of innocence. Our supporters make it possible to secure freedom for thousands of Americans yearly and help create a more just and equitable pretrial system. 

At The Bail Project, we’ve seen families of all shapes and sizes. When Sherry was arrested and lost her dog, her world came to a halt. Sherry and her 14-year-old Shih Tzu, Onyx, were inseparable. When Sherry was arrested for having drugs in her car, her only thought was when she’d see Onyx again. Unfortunately, Sherry’s story doesn’t have a happy ending. After multiple attempts, Sherry was never reunited with Onyx, leaving a permanent hole in her heart. But from a place of freedom, Sherry can focus on healing from the emotional trauma she endured. 

Cash bail doesn’t just ruin lives; it can cause damage to families. When Michael fell on hard times, his sister Taylor was also affected. Michael struggled for years with substance dependence, homelessness, and anxiety and had been incarcerated before. When Michael was arrested for drug possession, his sister Taylor was devastated. Unable to afford bail, the two felt hopeless. However, Michael was released from pretrial incarceration with the help of The Bail Project. The support of The Bail Project communities not only restores our clients’ hope but also gives entire families a second chance. 

Our generous community provides immediate relief to those incarcerated pretrial while working to take money out of the criminal justice system for good. Because of people who care about ending cash bail – like you – we’re working toward a future where freedom doesn’t come with a price tag.

During this season of giving, we hope you’ll consider making a difference in someone’s life by donating to The Bail Project.

Uniting Beats and Bailouts

The holiday season always brings a sense of hope and generosity, and this year, it’s even more special for us at The Bail Project. We are excited to share that Paper Route EMPIRE, a renowned record label in the music industry, is making a grand gesture of support. The first $20,000 in donations to The Bail Project for Giving Tuesday will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Paper Route EMPIRE, so your donation will go twice as far. It’s a powerful boost for our ongoing fight for equal justice, irrespective of one’s financial status.

Paper Route EMPIRE: More Than Music

Paper Route EMPIRE isn’t just about Billboard-charting songs and emerging artists; it’s a symbol of community impact and philanthropy.

Founded by the late Young Dolph and business partner Jeremel “Daddyo” Moore, the record label is known for its deep connection to the community. Paper Route EMPIRE has become a hub for artists who share this ethos. Notable names like Key Glock, Jay Fizzle, Kenny Muney, and Big Moochie Grape are part of this family, each carrying forward Dolph’s legacy. 

The Bail Project’s mission is close to home for Big Moochie Grape in particular, who just shared his East Haiti Baby: Incarcerated album, which features all incarcerated rap artists.

GivingTuesday was launched in 2012 as a day that would encourage people to do good in their communities. Since then, Giving Tuesday has grown into a global generosity movement, inspiring millions of people to give back. Giving Tuesday is about unleashing the power of generosity and community and showing the world that when we come together for good, anything is possible.

Generosity comes in many forms. No matter how you show up this Giving Tuesday, we want you to let your generosity shine! That’s why there are so many ways to support The Bail Project.

Making a single donation or becoming a monthly donor is the best way to make an immediate impact. Donations allow The Bail Project to provide free bail to thousands of people experiencing poverty annually, securing their freedom and restoring the presumption of innocence. Through Community Release with Support, we provide court notifications, free transportation to court, and help our clients navigate voluntary supportive services like substance use recovery and housing based on their needs. Without your donations, our clients wouldn’t get the support they need. In addition to providing immediate assistance to clients we serve, your gift helps to combat a two-tier system of justice through transformative policy change.

For those who want to leverage the power of the community this Giving Tuesday, we make it easy to create your own fundraiser. In just a few minutes, your fundraiser can be live and ready to accept donations from friends and family. Bail Project supporters are getting their communities involved in helping to end cash bail every day, and creating your own fundraising campaign will help you generate more donations for the cause you love while informing others of The Bail Project’s critical mission.

You can also get your workplace involved in supporting The Bail Project by matching your gift or leaving a legacy to help prevent people experiencing poverty from suffering the devastating effects of pretrial incarceration for generations to come.

Thanks to our supporters, we’ve provided bail support to over 28,000 people and assisted thousands more with community-based supportive services. With the help of our community, we’ve prevented over 1 million days in jail and saved taxpayers over $92 million.

As we work to build a better, more just, and humane pretrial system where freedom isn’t dependent on the size of one’s bank account, we’re proud to have our supporters by our side, making progress possible. This Giving Tuesday, join millions worldwide and make a difference in your community.

It takes a village to effect real change. At The Bail Project, we witness the power of community every day. Community is vital to our work, from our brave bail disruptors on the ground to our generous supporters nationwide. Getting your community involved is one of the most effective ways to help an organization.

You’ve probably heard the term peer-to-peer fundraising—also known as P2P fundraising. You’ve probably even seen P2P campaigns peppered across your social media feeds—those requests for donations we often get from friends and family raising funds for their favorite charities to celebrate their birthdays. Or campaigns calling for urgent support in a community via sites like GoFundMe.

A peer-to-peer campaign can be as simple as starting a fundraiser for something important to you and asking everyone you know to support it. Many peer-to-peer campaigns can raise hundreds and even thousands of dollars, and are one of the best ways to make an immediate impact in a big way. In 2020, the top US peer-to-peer programs brought nearly $1 billion for their charities.

As a high school student, seventeen-year-old Ali knew starting his own fundraiser was the best way to make the most significant impact.

“Once I learned of the inequities of the bail system in our country, I was determined to find a way to help. I did some research online and found The Bail Project, which I felt was a serious and impactful organization helping so many people unable to afford bail. I’m really glad that I was able to do my part through this amazing organization.”

Ali raised over $3,000 for The Bail Project by involving his network of friends, classmates, family, and community members.

Every day, Bail Project supporters are getting their communities involved in helping to end cash bail. Not only does creating your own fundraising campaign help you generate more donations for the cause you love, but it also helps inform others of The Bail Project’s critical mission and gets your community involved in making a difference.

By supporting The Bail Project through peer fundraising, you and your community are changing thousands of lives in communities across the US. And we make it easy to start your own fundraiser. We provide everything you need to get your campaign up and running and ready to accept donations in just a few minutes.

With the holiday season just around the corner, now is the perfect time to rally the support of your community to directly impact the lives of people trapped in pretrial incarceration.

After serving six years in Army Special Operations, Isaac Wright became an urban explorer, making art by taking photographs from the tops of buildings and bridges. “Photography is my passion, but it’s also how I’ve learned to cope with PTSD and depression. Photography saved my life.”

One day in 2020, while Isaac was taking new photos, he was arrested at gunpoint for trespassing in his hometown of Cincinnati. He was charged with several felonies for doing the one thing that brings him peace and puts food on the table — creating art for the world to see.

All Isaac wanted was his day in court so that he could plead his case and go home. But a judge had other plans. When the prosecutor in his case argued that Isaac’s background in the Army made him too dangerous to be released, the judge set his bail at nearly half a million dollars. As a result, Isaac sat in jail for months on end, spiraling into depression.

During the 100 days he was incarcerated, Isaac said he met many people awaiting trial behind bars because they couldn’t afford bail- and that most of them were people of color. Cash bail not only corrupts justice by creating a system for the rich and another for the poor. It also gives legal cover for racial discrimination.

Isaac was finally released once he and his attorney could get his bail significantly reduced. However, the negative impact of being incarcerated is longer lasting. Isaac was released with no money, his PTSD exacerbated, and had to start over from scratch.

Now, Wright is using his art to fight excessive cash bail.

Issac Wright, also known as Drift, made a splash in the NFT world with his 2022 launch of “First Day Out,” an open edition of art piece detailing his return to urban exploring post-incarceration. Wright donated 15% of the sales to The Bail Project to help people who cannot afford bail. Since its release, over $500k has been donated to The Bail Project through “First Day Out” sales.

“When I realized what the use of cash bail does to people and how it corrupts our justice system, I was outraged. My art helped me get back on my feet, and now I want to make sure others don’t have to go through what I endured — this is why I support The Bail Project.”

Every day, generous supporters like Isaac are using their passions to effect change. Whether it’s by donating, starting your own fundraiser, getting your workplace involved, or donating proceeds, you have the power to make a big impact on the lives of thousands of people who are trapped by an unjust pretrial system.

Cash bail was originally intended to encourage people to return to court. The idea – if you are arrested, you or your loved ones can pay bail, and you’re released. When you return to court, the money is returned to you. The U.S. Constitution even prohibits “excessive bail” to prevent it from being misused. But, along the way, cash bail became a tool to punish the innocent before trial. Today judges routinely set bail amounts that exceed what most people can afford.

Excessive bail forces people to stay in jail while they await trial – sometimes held for weeks, months, or even years even though they’ve not been convicted of anything. Today, nearly half a million people sit behind bars daily, many because they don’t have the money to go home. It’s also costly: American taxpayers spend over $14 billion dollars a year incarcerating people pretrial.

So, how do you combat a system like cash bail when it feels impossible? How can one person make a difference?

You’ve probably heard our origin story. How The Bail Project’s founder, Robin Steinberg, started The Bail Project after working for decades as a public defender and seeing firsthand how cash bail fueled mass incarceration and racial and economic disparities in the criminal justice system. Robin wanted to grow The Bronx Freedom Fund, a small community bail fund that she had started with her husband, into a national organization that could help thousands of people every year, end cash bail, and ultimately transform the justice system for generations to come. That seemingly unreachable dream that began in 2017 turned into The Bail Project you know today. But we didn’t get here overnight. It took thousands of individual supporters to help make this dream possible.

Using donations, The Bail Project provides free bail assistance to thousands of low-income people annually. Through our Community Release with Support model, we provide court notifications, free transportation to court, and help our clients navigate voluntary supportive services like substance use recovery and housing based on their needs. Your donation helps real people in real-time. It can help people like Henry to finally get the mental health care he needed. It can help people like Marcella to have reliable transportation to her court dates. Without your help, our clients could have spent months or years in jail on charges that would later be dropped.

But the great thing about our model is that your support directly helps Bail Project clients across the country, and supports our work to combat this two-tier system of justice through real policy change.

With your help, we’re leveraging data and human stories to advocate for holistic pretrial system reforms that reduce reliance on bail at the local, state, and federal levels.

And the results of your support are proof that our model is working. Our data from thousands of bailouts across the country is indisputable: Bail is not what makes people return to court. Our clients return to over 90% of their court dates even though they have no money on the line. Our powerful evidence lays to rest the idea that cash bail is necessary for the pretrial process.

So, how exactly does one person make a big impact? At The Bail Project, it’s important to us that everyone has the opportunity to join us in our mission, wherever they are in life, by whichever means they can. That’s why we offer multiple ways to get involved from making a single donation to joining our community of passionate monthly donors who make this work possible. We make it easy to build your own fundraiser, get your workplace involved, and help you leave your own legacy to help people experiencing poverty from pretrial incarceration for generations to come.

As we work to build a better, more just and humane pretrial system where freedom isn’t dependent on the size of one’s bank account, we’re proud to have our supporters by our side, making progress possible.

To learn more about how you can support The Bail Project, read about our model, learn all the ways you can give, or send us a message.

As a physician, Carolyn volunteered in clinics serving people in the workforce who may be experiencing homelessness or poverty and are uninsured. Through her work, she witnessed the cruelty of cash bail and pretrial incarceration.

The cycle of poverty and incarceration is a vicious one. The homelessness crisis in the United States is worsened by the criminalization of poverty and homelessness. People with histories of incarceration are more likely to experience homelessness and people experiencing homelessness or poverty are 11 times more likely to be incarcerated than the general population.

Because the criminal justice system fails to consider the extreme conditions people experiencing homelessness or poverty are forced to endure to survive, they are often arrested for such things as loitering or sleeping on public property. Once incarcerated, a severe lack of resources makes it nearly impossible to escape a legal system that disadvantages them in every way.

“Through the years, I saw cases where minor events set off a cascade of destruction in a person’s life, leading to unemployment and housing loss. It was amazing to me how many people were put into or kept in poverty by one mistake that started an avalanche for them.”

Working at the clinic, Carolyn became all too familiar with the destructive cycle. “People may be arrested for minor things that may or may not have been their fault. Working with people experiencing homelessness or poverty, I have seen people who have been charged with committing things like petty theft because they couldn’t afford simple items such as diapers or food for their families. If someone with marginal finances is arrested, even if they are innocent, they cannot afford bail or the fines and fees of being arrested. They get stuck in jail, which may lead to a loss of their job. Many of my clients in this position would often agree to a plea bargain as the only way to avoid staying in jail, and that can stay with them the rest of their life and keep them in a cycle of poverty.”

Like Carolyn, many Bail Project supporters come to us through personal experiences. The cruel cash bail system is still widely misunderstood. Still, even without direct involvement with the criminal justice system, cash bail is pervasive enough to negatively impact nearly every community.

“I support The Bail Project because they are making a difference for people caught in the unfair cash bail system, allowing them to continue to lead lives as productive citizens and preventing further poverty and homelessness.”

Our supporters make it possible to secure freedom for thousands of Americans experiencing poverty yearly. You can join Carolyn in supporting The Bail Project’s mission to create a more just and equitable pretrial system and help us put an end to the criminalization of poverty with a donation of any amount today.

Have questions about our Freedom Funders monthly donor community, or are you interested in other ways to support The Bail Project? Please contact our development team.

At The Bail Project, we often find that once people understand the disturbing truths about cash bail and our current pretrial system, there’s a desire to want to do more. That happened once Kelly learned about the harmful effects of cash bail.

Before Kelly became a Freedom Funder in 2019, she understood the justice system as much as most people might. It wasn’t until one day, when Kelly heard The Bail Project mentioned on a radio program, that she started to look deeper into the criminal justice system.

“I used to think I understood the inequity of the justice system, but I continue to learn how little I really know. When I heard about The Bail Project on the radio, it lingered with me, and I went online to find out more,” Kelly said.

“I then started to see the role cash bail plays in larger-scale problems. Since the project did not yet have a site near me, I made a couple of one-time donations until I could budget to become a monthly donor.”

Kelly, who works for a nonprofit in South Carolina, understands the importance of community and support to make a mission possible. There are many ways to support organizations like The Bail Project, like helping spread the word or sharing their clients’ stories. For Kelly and many people, donating is the easiest way to provide immediate support. Plus, donating monthly is a great way to make a big difference over time.

“I am humbled to watch the impact The Bail Project makes, and if my small contribution can help this organization grow, assist more people, and change the system, I will continue to be a supporter.”

Monthly supporters like Kelly play a vital role in The Bail Project’s mission. Thousands of Freedom Funders use their generosity daily to make significant and lasting changes in the pretrial system. No matter the size, monthly donations sustain The Bail Project’s mission of eliminating cash bail and creating a more just and equitable pretrial system—ensuring our work together will make a lasting impact.

We hope you’ll join our dedicated community of Freedom Funders with a monthly gift of any amount. Freedom Funders make it possible for The Bail Project to provide free bail assistance and secure freedom for thousands of Americans experiencing poverty yearly. You can help combat mass incarceration and transform the pretrial system in the United States.

Have questions about our Freedom Funders monthly donor community, or are you interested in other ways to support The Bail Project? Please contact our development team.

If you know me, you probably know I have a passion for cannabis. Ever since I was a teenager, my relationship with weed has been more than recreational—it’s medicinal, creative, and spiritual.

I have always been a proponent of marijuana legalization. So you can imagine that when I was invited to follow in the footsteps of one of my idols, Willie Nelson, to create my own line of cannabis products with his company, Willie’s Reserve, it was a dream come true. But it was the process of becoming a cannabis entrepreneur that opened my eyes to the injustices of our criminal legal system. How is it possible that I could legally sell my own line of cannabis products while so many people are still being arrested and incarcerated for using marijuana?

What’s worse is that so many of those who are arrested for marijuana possession have bail amounts set against them that they can’t afford to pay. They wind up staying in jail for little more than marijuana possession because they don’t have enough money in their bank accounts to get released. That’s when I realized I wanted to be part of the solution.

Countless Americans rely on cannabis to cope with medical conditions, mental health issues, and the stresses of daily life. Even as marijuana use becomes legal from state-to-state, too many people are still in jail on marijuana-related charges. So when I learned about The Bail Project and its work to help people who are presumed innocent but are in jail pretrial on bail, many of whom are women and people of color, it was a no-brainer. I knew I had to support The Bail Project.

This issue means so much to me personally—as someone who cares deeply about social justice and marijuana decriminalization. It makes me proud that I can donate a portion of the proceeds from my marijuana line and merchandise at Willie’s Reserve to The Bail Project.

As more people are arrested on low-level drug charges and held in pretrial detention on unaffordable bail, I am grateful that organizations like The Bail Project exist. And I know I’m not alone. Knowing the entire Bail Project community in this with me gives me so much hope.

I hope you’ll join me in this fight to end cash bail with a donation to The Bail Project. If all of us stick together, I know we can help so many people who are being unnecessarily incarcerated because of cash bail.

– Margo Price