Of the more than 1,400 people incarcerated in the local Baton Rouge jail, 80 percent have not been convicted of a crime. Many of these people—disproportionately from Black and Brown communities—have been denied their freedom and risk losing their jobs, homes, and even custody of their children, simply because they can’t afford to pay their bail.
Our new video, in partnership with the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Reform Coalition and the Fair Fight Initiative, shows how the cash bail system in Baton Rouge, and in countless cities like it across the country, violates the tenet that we’re innocent until proven guilty.
It’s time to eliminate this inherently racist system.