NYC COUNCIL PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS ENDORSES MASS BAIL OUT

New York, NY — The New York City Council Progressive Caucus is formally announcing its endorsement of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Mass Bail Out Action, which will free women and young people who are jailed in New York City for the simple fact that they cannot afford to pay bail. The Mass Bail Out Action is a collaborative effort made up of grassroots groups and formerly incarcerated people, supported by over 30 criminal justice and re-entry organizations, to highlight the criminalization of poverty through the money bail system.

The Caucus’ support of Mass Bail Out comes from the understanding that our current bail system criminalizes poverty and undermines the American principal of “innocent until proven guilty,” demonstrated by the factservice providers, movement leaders, grassroots, and advocacy organizations in the fight against racialized policing and mass incarceration. The Caucus commends the Mass Bail Out Action for taking important steps to highlight vital strategies in reducing the city’s jail population, the need to close rikers, and the inherent injustice of the classist cash-bail system.

In the past, the Caucus has introduced legislation like the Right to Know Act and supported and joined advocacy around the #CloseRikers campaign as well as a campaign to support fair wages for the incarcerated as advocated by organizers of the 2018 prison strike. As evidenced in the Caucus’ support for this campaign and overall criminal justice reform, our members are invested in reimagining what true justice and accountability can look like in New York City