https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/07/politics/bail-reform-violent-crime-fact-check/index.html
Violent
crime in the United States shot up last year as the pandemic raged.
Major cities across the country saw a more than 30% jump in homicides as
well as increases in aggravated assaults, according to a January report from the National Commission on Covid-19 and Criminal Justice.
Bail reforms
-- which generally focus on removing or limiting the use of cash bail
against defendants who are accused of misdemeanors or nonviolent
offenses -- aim at making sure most defendants are not held in jail
while awaiting trial solely because they cannot afford cash bail.
During
a congressional hearing in late June, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South
Carolina Republican, suggested reforms eliminating cash bail could
partially be to blame for the recent spike in crime. Graham asked FBI
Director Christopher Wray if he believed "one of the reasons crime is on
the rise is that certain jurisdictions have basically eliminated bail?"
"You catch them on Monday morning and they're out on the streets Monday afternoon," Graham said.
Facts First: There's
no clear evidence linking bail reforms -- which have been in place for
years in some cities -- to the recent rise in violent crimes. In fact,
the majority of cities that have seen increases in crime have not
eliminated cash bail. Many variables have contributed to the increases
Graham is referencing but CNN has seen no evidence to suggest that bail
reform is a major factor.
