What if we ended the injustice of bail? | Robin Steinberg
On any given night, more than 450000 people in the United States are locked up in jail simply because they don't have enough money to pay bail. The sums in ...
========== I will never forget the first time
I visited a client in jail. The heavy, metal door slammed behind me, and I heard the key turn in the lock. The cement floor underneath me
had a sticky film on it that made a ripping sound, like tape being pulled off a box, every time I moved my foot. The only connection to the outside world
was a small window placed too high to see. There was a small, square table
bolted to the floor and two metal chairs, one on either side. That was the first time
I understood viscerally -- just for a fleeting moment -- what incarceration might feel like. And I promised myself all those years ago
as a young, public defender that I would never,
ever forget that feeling. And I never have. It inspired me to fight for each
and every one of my clients' freedom as ...