Hundreds of Thousands Are Languishing in Jails Because They Can't Afford Bail Bonds: A National Movement Is Building to End This | Alternet

For the nearly 8,000 people locked up in Cook County jail, and the 2,400 on house arrest, the presumption of innocence until proven guilty effectively does not exist. Roughly 95 percent of those incarcerated have not faced trial or conviction of any kind, the vast majority of them ensnared simply because they are unable to afford bond. Those forced to languish in indefinite detention are disproportionately African American, and their pretrial punishments can permanently set their lives off-course, causing them to lose jobs, custody of their children, their housing, and even their lives....
http://www.alternet.org/activism/there-national-growing-movement-release-people-indefinite-detention-us-jails