The Price of Freedom today!

Last updated on June 10, 2015

John Oliver’s show “Last week tonight” is one of my guilty pleasures. I wish his show would be accessible to everyone and a local TV station would broadcast it instead of HBO, but then I suppose that’s not possible, because we don’t curse on local TV on prime time, we prefer to “bleep” the obvious. 

Our bail system works, as so many other things, entirely in favor of the rich. The poor, the ones without extra money to spend get screwed over -as so often. I never really thought about it, until last night. Last night’s show was an eyeopener for me and left me searching for answers. I found numerous articles about last nights show and started to dig deeper.

The Human Rights Watch published an article in December 2010 (source) that I wish everyone would read.

Our economy has changed. The middle class becomes poorer with every passing year, many of us are just one step away from going over the cliff. A $1,000 bail for a misdemeanor and non-violent crime, like driving without a license or smoking marijuana in public, can destroy peoples life for good. Or as John Oliver said  “Jail can do for your actual life what being in a marching band can do for you social life. Even if you’re just in for a little while, it can destroy you.”

In 2008, one year before the economy took a nosedive, among people arrested on non felony charges who had bail set at $1,000 or less, 87 percent were incarcerated because they were unable to post the bail amount at their arraignment.

On average, they spent almost 16 days in pretrial detention for low-level offenses like trespassing.

16 days in jail, away from your home and without pay is for many here in the USA a disaster. Many live from paycheck to paycheck and can hardly make ends meet the way it is. $500 or $1,000 more or less makes a huge difference for ordinary citizens. It can be the difference between a roof over your head and being homeless, can make the difference between being hungry and having food on the table.

16 days in jail for a misdemeanor means, the most of us would get fired after just one or two days without showing up at our job. No questions asked, because nobody cares. Most companies won’t hold your job for you and will replace you right away, not matter of the circumstances.

I hope you will have time to watch this little movie, uploaded to youtube by “Last week tonight.” I love John Oliver’s humor, his sarcasm and his brutality when he says our bail system doesn’t make any sense. We have a system of justice – at least, when it comes to misdemeanor offenses – that bestows those with money the freedom to fight their case, and forces those without means to needlessly fill our jails. Obviously, something needs to be done to remedy this situation.

I think so!