How a Nonprofit Bail Fund Frees Violent Criminals. Seattle’s Northwest Community Bail Fund says it considers ‘gender status’ but not a criminal record.

Wall Street Journal ^ | December 30, 2022 | Jillian Kay Melchior

[karpov]

The push to defund the police might have peaked after George Floyd’s murder in 2020, but a related movement is still going strong. As riots swept America’s cities, then-Sen. Kamala Harris and others appealed for donations to nonprofits dedicated to springing arrested protesters from jail and bailing out the poor. These bail funds existed before 2020, but they’ve since become big business—and in some cases undermine public safety.

A case in point is the Seattle-based Northwest Community Bail Fund, established in 2018 “to post bail on behalf of indigent individuals who have been charged and held on inaccessible bail while awaiting trial.” The group experienced a windfall in 2020, hauling in more than $5.7 million. It posted more than $2.8 million in bail for 696 people that year, up from around $377,000 for 227 defendants in 2019. It hasn’t released figures for 2021 and 2022.

Some defendants the bail fund has assisted have allegedly gone on to commit additional crimes, including violent ones. Three have been charged with murder. Among them is Kylan Houle, 32, who had two felony gun charges outstanding when he allegedly shot and killed Damon Allen, 62, in May 2022. Just before he was shot Allen had told a 911 operator someone was trying to break into his home.

Mr. Houle had “amassed well over 20 additional criminal convictions,” including felony assault and burglary, and had failed to appear in court more than 50 times, according to King County prosecutors. Despite his record, the Northwest Community Bail Fund posted $10,000 in bail for him on Dec. 4, 2021, when he was charged with first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a stolen vehicle and attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle

[karpov]

Full article.. Would it make sense for people who supply bail to be civilly liable for crimes committed by people out on bail?

[Ban Draoi Marbh Draoi]

Yes, it would — and not just civil liability but criminal liability as well.

[ronnie raygun]

If every one of these people were held liable this would change quickly the downside is who will become the next victim to enact this if it did exist

[BenLurkin]

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Cameltoe still has hers going. Click on the image to donate now!