How Cash Bail Creates a Two-Tiered Justice System

Episode 29 of Inequality Conversations with Fexingo examines how cash bail in the United States functions as a wealth-based detention system. Lucas and Luna break down the real-world costs of pretrial detention: lost wages, housing instability, and pressure to plead guilty. They cite data from the Prison Policy Initiative showing that the median bail amount for a felony is $10,000, while the median Americans have in savings is just $400. The hosts explore how this creates a two-tiered justice system where freedom is determined by bank account size rather than risk. They also highlight recent reforms in states like New Jersey, which largely replaced cash bail with risk-assessment tools, and the mixed outcomes that followed. The episode ends by asking whether bail reform alone can address deeper economic inequality in the criminal justice system. #CashBail #CriminalJusticeReform #WealthInequality #PretrialDetention #BailReform #Economics #EconomicJustice #WealthGap #IncomeDistribution #PrisonPolicyInitiative #NewJerseyBailReform #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #InequalityConversations #LucasAndLuna #Podcast #JusticeSystem #WealthBasedDetention Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo