Inside the World of Bail Bonds

How does bail work — and who's really paying? Zachary Crockett follows the money.

• SOURCES:
  • Joshua Page, professor of sociology and law at the University of Minnesota.
  • Steven Zalewski, criminal defense attorney and co-owner of Affordable Bails New York.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Does Bail Reform Increase Crime in New York State: Evidence from Interrupted Time-Series Analyses and Synthetic Control Methods," by Sishi Wu and David McDowall (Justice Quarterly, 2023).
  • "Profit Over People: The Commercial Bail Industry Fueling America’s Cash Bail Systems," by Allie Preston and Rachael Eisenberg (Center for American Progress, 2022).
  • "All Profit, No Risk: How the Bail Industry Exploits the Legal System," by Wendy Sawyer (Prison Policy Initiative, 2022).
  • "A Debt of Care: Commercial Bail and the Gendered Logic of Criminal Justice Predation," by Joshua Page, Victoria Piehowski, and Joe Soss (RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 2019).
  • "The Economics of Bail and Pretrial Detention," by Patrick Liu, Ryan Nunn, and Jay Shambaugh (The Hamilton Project, 2018).
  • "Selling Off Our Freedom: How Insurance Corporations Have Taken Over Our Bail System," by Color Of Change and ACLU’s Campaign for Smart Justice (2017).
  • "Inside the Wild, Shadowy, and Highly Lucrative Bail Industry," by Shane Bauer (Mother Jones, 2014).

• EXTRAS:
  • "To Catch a Fugitive," by Freakonomics Radio (2011).