In July '17, Mark Valentine was pulled over by police officers and his subsequent stop led to his arrest. He was interviewed and accepted into the CASES , a supervised release program but during his arraignment, the request was denied and bail was set at $8,000 insurance bond or $4,000 cash. Because of a disability, Mark lives on a limited income and could not afford to bail himself out and spent the next three weeks incarcerated. Like many Americans who are currently detained and have not been convicted of a crime, Mark was in jail because he could not afford to be free. With the help of his Attorney and The Decarceration Project, Mark was granted supervised release and has not missed any of his court dates. His case is still pending. Bail is only used to ensure someone returns to court — judges are not required to set bail in every case. Research shows that 84% of those charged with a crime in New York City return to court voluntarily on their scheduled court date without bail. Photographed for NLADA and The Decarceration Project. #photojournalism #portraits #makeportraits #nlada #decarcerationproject #criminaljustice #criminaljusticereform #bailreform #legalaid #endmoneybail
