LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — The Central Penn Equity Project wants to change how cash bail is imposed in Lancaster County.
Advocates spoke in favor of the change at the Prison Board Meeting held Thursday morning in Lancaster County.
They say cash bail is inconsistently applied across the county. They cited data from 157 cases of simple assault in 2020. In 45% of cases, they say a district judge imposed monetary bail; others were released on unsecured bail or their own recognizance. The range varied from $5,000 dollars to more than $37,000. Advocates say this disproportionately impacts people of all races, ethnicities, and religions who have less money.
"You're not making Lancaster County safer by putting out a monetary bail," said John Maina. "What you're doing is is saying 'Can this person afford it or not afford it?' If they can afford it, they're going to go away. If I pay my bail, and I get released, is the public that much safer? I still committed allegedly what they charged me with."
Judge Dennis Reinaker defended why his colleagues impose cash bail.
"Any one of those situations where an MDJ has set bail, their attorneys or the defendants can come in to have that revisited to see whether or not what we as common plea judges think is appropriate or not," said Judge Reinaker. "I just think, not to say, you're [Maina] not making good points because you are, I just think it's really important for everyone to understand how the system operates and why it operates the way it does."
Judge Reinaker says cash bail is commonly used when a defendant is a flight risk, when the court issues a warrant for unpaid fines, or when a defendant has failed to appear in court.
Maina cited the most recent controversial example of cash bail set in Lancaster County which involved multiple protesters who originally had their bail set at $1 million.
Maina says the Central Penn Equity Project wants a number of things to happen:
- Risk-based assessments prior to imposition of bail
- The presence of an attorney at all hearings where monetary bail is being considered
- Require judges to file a report of explaining each instance of monetary bail
- Expansion of pretrial services to include supervision of defendants free on bail
People in favor of cash bail say the monetary figure allows the justice system to protect each person's right to be presumed innocent until guilt is proven while also protecting the interest of the public safety.
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