By Trisha Trigilio, ACLU Senior Staff Attorney, Criminal Law Reform Project

If you follow major news outlets, you probably keep hearing about a “crime wave” caused by bail reform. It’s a false narrative. Bail reform is a success — releasing more people from jail by minimizing or eliminating cash bail works. More people get out of jail and get home to their families, without any jump people skipping town, and without any jump in crime.

There is a serious, newsworthy issue that warrants attention: an increase in homicide rates. This issue deserves an adult conversation that we’re not getting from major media outlets. Instead, reporters rely primarily on police sources who point to bail reform as the explanation for increased homicide rates. Article after article parrots this claim as fact — with no evidence whatsoever. With frustrating frequency, government officials and reporters assume that crime is a monolithic problem and jailing people fixes it. This narrative is false and irresponsible. Here are the facts:

There is not a “crime wave.” Homicide rates increased in 2020, at the same time that other crimes declined and remain at historic lows. Recent reports of a spike in shoplifting are largely unsupported. The real question is why there is a short-term increase in homicides while other crimes continue to decline. Responsible discourse would focus on how nationwide changes that began in 2020 — like social and financial disruption from the pandemic, or significant increases in gun purchases — may have contributed to this universal increase in homicides.

Cash bail doesn’t lower homicide rates. Most places in the country still rely heavily on cash bail, including places that led the pack in increasing homicide rates. The few places that have reduced reliance on cash bail did so did so for years before 2020 without an increase in crime, including homicide.

Incarceration doesn’t lower homicide rates. We can’t jail our way to a lower homicide rate. Increasing incarceration in the United States for more than two decades did not reduce violent crime. We remain, by far, the world’s leading incarcerator, but that status did not prevent an uptick in homicides. If anything, incarceration is so destabilizing that it increases the risk that people will commit a violent offense when they come home.

Local investment does lower homicide rates. Although homicide rates rose across the country, homicides remain concentrated in a handful of neighborhoods. Public discourse should center the needs of people who live in these neighborhoods, not leverage violence as a talking point to advance a political agenda. Locally guided investments in physical attributes like streetlights, parks, and public transportation; economic opportunity like youth summer employment; and social connections like violence interruption programs are all associated with drops in homicide and violence.

The false narrative that bail reform increases crime is also borne of poor reporting on what “bail reform” actually means. Bail reform policies ensure that judges appoint a defense lawyer, hold a bail hearing, and jail people only if evidence shows that it’s necessary. The idea is that judges should have good reasons to detain people, rather than picking a bail amount and leaving it to chance whether people can afford to pay for their release. We’re talking about basic constitutional safeguards against arbitrary detention that destroys lives. It’s not exactly radical.

When judges take these reforms seriously, the result is that many more people are released — without any negative effect on public safety. Releasing more people actually has a positive effect on public safety, because the faster that people reconnect with their families and fulfill their everyday responsibilities, the less likely they are to be rearrested. Releasing people from jail also alleviates the risk of death and severe illness — and the certainty of suffering — imposed on people incarcerated in our local jails. Reporting that scapegoats bail reform acts with callous disregard for the human cost of relying on cash bail. At a minimum, fair and accurate reporting should critically examine the assumptions that officials make about crime rates and their link to incarceration.

Over 100 anti-trans bills were introduced in state legislatures nationwide in 2021 – and even more have been filed this year. The majority of these cruel attacks target trans young people.

Now, more than ever, trans youth need to know there’s a loud and resounding show of public support for them. In response to the over 100 anti-trans bills filed in states across the country – the ACLU is working to rally 100,000 people pledging and showing support for trans youth everywhere. Please join us and take the pledge today.

State lawmakers are continuing to introduce wave after wave of these cruel measures – banning trans kids from school sports, denying access to gender-affirming medical care, and even unlawfully threatening to remove adolescents from loving homes solely for having parents who love and affirm them.

Imagine being a kid and having to experience adults in positions of power attacking your right to be who you are and threatening your family, health, safety, and life.

Many trans young people have loving parents, family, and support networks – but some young people are having to go through these terrifying attacks alone. And all trans young people are being subjected to ugly rhetoric, misguided policies, and other dangerous actions perpetrated against them in what is a nationwide attack on transgender rights and lives.

We know that when trans youth don’t have access to support – including gender-affirming medical care – their mental health suffers. That’s why the ACLU is fighting back with every tool in our toolbox. In statehouses and in the courtrooms, we and our nationwide network of affiliates are pushing to stop these bills.

But we also need to ensure that trans youth across the country feel loved and supported as we combat these awful attacks on their safety and civil liberties. That’s where you can make a difference.

Show trans young people that anti-trans politicians are not the only voices speaking out right now and that there are far more people out there who support who they are, who want them to grow up and thrive, and who will not stop fighting for them.

If you are a parent or a guardian yourself – or simply an adult who cares – join us and help us reach 100,000 people strong: Take our pledge to let trans kids everywhere know you’re with them.

TAKE THE PLEDGE