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Description
From the Stated Meeting of Philadelphia City Council held Thursday, January 25, 2018:
Councilman Curtis Jones, Jr. (4th District) speaks on his resolution urging reform of the cash bail system.
Read the resolution: http://bit.ly/2DB1Io1
A
I
recognize
councilman
joked
Thank
You,
mr.
president,
so
keeping
on
the
Eagles
theme,
but
on
a
serious
note,
the
NFL
commissioner
unbeknownst
to
a
lot
of
people,
Roger
Goodell,
as
well
as
our
personal
hero
of
Public
Safety,
who
wore
it
best.
Malcolm
Jenkins
spent
an
afternoon
about
an
hour
down
at
our
pretrial
unit
over
in
CJC
and
what
they
saw
through
a
cash
bail
system,
shocked
them
to
their
core
so
much
so
that
they
committed
to
be
a
part
of
the
criminal
justice
reform.
A
They
saw
firsthand
how
unfair
unequal
and
sometimes
downright
prejudice
to
poor
people.
That
system
was
I
want
to.
Thank
you,
mr.
president,
for
allowing
me
for
the
last
two
years
to
be
a
part
of
the
criminal
justice
reform
committee
as
one
of
the
co-chairs,
and
we
discussed
and
found
out
a
great
many
things
about
criminal
genic
behavior,
ranging
from
overcrowded
jails
school
to
pipeline
prisons,
constant
reoccurrences
of
criminal
acts,
so
much
so
that
an
article
was
released
today
about
grandfather's,
serving
with
their
sons
and
serving
with
their
grandsons
at
the
same
jail.
A
So
much
so
that
we
have
had
books
dedicated
to
the
over
incarceration
of
the
negro,
calling
it
the
new
Jim
Crow.
So
we
here
are
and
one
of
the
things
that
I'm
calling
for
a
person
because
of
your
commitment
to
put
us
in
a
situation
where
we
were
modernizing
our
systems,
I'm
calling
for
the
end
to
a
cash
bail
system
in
the
city
of
Philadelphia
to
Commonwealth
of
Pennsylvania.
A
Mr.
president,
in
our
research
we
found
out
that
a
cash
bail
system
comes
from
a
thousand-year
old,
medieval
system
that
was
created
to
make
sure
that,
and
they
knew
even
then
that
jails
were
too
costly,
and
so
we
should
let
the
accused
go
if
they
were
not
a
danger
to
themselves
or
society,
and
that
someone
could
assure
that
they
would
return
to
face
trial.
A
That's
a
thousand
year
old
medieval
system
that
hasn't
changed
much
the
American
bail
system
has
become
the
central
issue
and
we
fight
in
fighting
the
effects
of
mass
incarceration
and
disproportionate
impact
on
minorities
and
poor
people.
Every
day
there
are
thousands
of
people
that
are
not
released
from
our
jails,
costing
us
even
my
conservative
counterparts
that
might
be
more
concerned
about
the
budget
impact
at
a
hundred
and
thirty
dollars
a
day
for
$100
bail,
meaning
10%
of
the
thousand
dollars
that
they
might
be
called
for.
A
We're
the
fourth
largest
jail
population
per
capital
of
every
large
city
in
America.
Fourth
largest
William
Penn
tried
to
reform
the
system
in
1682
by
creating
oh,
the
clerk
of
court
of
sessions
office
to
manage
that
system.
We
had
hearings
about
that
and
some
of
the
problems
with
it
and
eliminate
it,
but
we
did
not
eliminate
the
cash
bail
system.
I
would
suggest
to
my
colleagues
that
anything,
that's
a
hundred
years
old
might
require
a
checkup,
a
tune-up,
a
fix
up
and
a
change.
A
Bail
has
two
purposes
to
make
sure
people
come
back
and
to
protect
the
public
in
Washington
DC.
They
have
not
had
a
cash
bail
system
in
over
20
years
and
just
like
we're
going
to
face
Oh
disguised
falling
and
all
hell's
gonna
break
loose,
they
did
not.
That
did
not
happen.
In
fact,
Washington
DC's
crime
rates
went
down
and
nobody
goes
away
for
free
scot-free.
A
Nobody
just
opens
the
jail
and
lets
people
out.
They
let
them
out
if
they
are
not
a
danger
to
themselves
or
society
with
conditions.
So
me
and
where'd
he
go
the
cameraman
for
that.
Has
the
Dallas
kept
we
get
in
a
bar
fight
on
Friday
because
he's
a
Dallas
fan
now
we're
friends
but
I
have
a
drinking
problem,
and
this
is
a
reoccurrence.
Every
Friday
night
I
get
my
drink
on
and
I
go
fight
him.
A
So
the
judge
says
you
know
what
mr.
Jones,
you
probably
don't
need
to
be
in
jail.
You
probably
need
to
be
in
a
rehab.
Would
you
go
to
rehab
and
by
the
time
you
get
back
here?
Maybe
you've
completed.
That
course,
maybe
you've
seen
the
light.
Maybe
you've
changed
your
behavior
for
the
better
and,
if
not
we'll,
take
that
into
account
and
rule
accordingly,
but
you
you
will
be
released
with
conditions.
You
will
come
back
because
you
have
an
opportunity
not
to
face
prison
time.
Those
should
be
the
options
as
opposed
to
debtors.
A
Prison
Bell
in
Philadelphia
has
become
a
big
business
and
we
know
we're
going
to
catch
some
flack
about
looking
at
things
a
little
differently,
but
that's
okay,
so
I'm
calling
for
three
things.
One
I'm
calling
and
asking
that
our
counterparts
in
the
Senate
and
in
the
house
in
Pennsylvania
take
a
look
at
this
for
all
of
Pennsylvania
and
if
they
can't
do
it
for
all
of
Pennsylvania,
loosen
up
the
regulations
for
cities
of
the
first
class
like
Philadelphia.
A
So
we
can
manage
our
criminal
justice
system
a
little
better
I'm,
going
to
also
call
upon
the
first
District
to
take
a
look
at
our
policies.
As
was
said
earlier,
we
have
certain
flexibility
within
our
own
rules
and
interpretation
of
the
rules
that
we
should
look
at
and
then
I'm
a
call
for
governor
wolf
in
Harrisburg
to
make
this
happen
from
a
legal
way.
A
Now
that
does
not
mean
that
we
open
the
jails
and
let
everybody
out,
because
we
met
with
20
inmates
up
on
state
road
and
we
asked
them
the
simple
question:
should
some
people
be
incarcerated
and
they
looked
around
at
each
other
and
say
yeah?
Some
of
us
need
to
be
there,
but
the
vast
majority
of
us
that
suffer
because
we're
in
jail,
because
they
don't
have
money
to
get
out.
A
They
lose
their
jobs,
they
lose
their
apartments
and
homes,
they
lose
their
families
and
dignity
and
respect,
and
it
creates
a
catastrophic
series
of
events
that
they
can't
get
out
of.
It
increases
poverty
when
a
kid
goes
and
is
pressured,
as
that
was
said,
because
they're
sitting
up
there
with
the
pressure
of
being
in
jail
and
they
plead
guilty.
They
do
not
know
at
the
time
they
plead
guilty
just
because
they
want
that
pressure
of
incarceration
offer
them
that
there
are
over
200
things.
A
They
will
never
get
to
do
or
be
in
this
country,
ranging
from
living
in
public
housing,
which
a
family
to
ever
be
in
a
postman
or
receiving
a
federal
loan
to
start
a
business.
We
have
to
take
a
look.
I
am
encouraged
mr.
president,
and
had
a
good
conversation
with
the
public
defender
and
the
new
district
attorney,
and
they
too
are
looking
at
what
work.
We've
done
to
begin
to
incorporate
that
in
their
various
departments.
But
I
want
to
tell
my
other
colleagues
that
our
work
is
on
the
budget
side.