Four out of every five people currently sitting in Salt Lake County jails haven't been convicted of a crime, but are waiting there to go to court because they're too poor to make bail. Decarcerate Utah is a nonprofit group working to change the system so people can continue their lives while awaiting their day in court.
The group created a Salt Lake Community Bail Fund, to provide community resources to help suspects post bail. But Emily Lyver, co-founder of the Bail Fund, said the group’s ultimate goal is to end all pre-trial detentions in Utah.
"We would like to eliminate and abolish the cash-bail system," Lyver said. "We think that the system creates a two-tiered justice system, for those who can pay and those who cannot. So, it disproportionately criminalizes people who are impoverished."
Lyver said the group recently funded its first bail request, and is looking for additional support to help other defendants. She said studies show in Salt Lake County, pre-trial detainees spend an average of 128 days in jail before their case is heard.
Lyver said previously, judges would set bail as high as 500-thousand dollars to ensure a person stayed in custody until trial. Utah legislators approved a measure this year to give courts more flexibility, but Lyver says isn’t enough.
"These are just exorbitant sums of money that are meant to be unpayable," said Lyver. "So, at least under this, if they want to hold someone in jail without bail, they'll have to say so – whereas in the past, they would just set bail so high that no one could pay it."
Lyver noted holding someone for trial often costs the person much more than a guilty verdict, including the loss of their jobs, homes, cars and even custody of their children.
"We also know that people who are incarcerated before their trial tend to accept plea deals that are not in their best interest, just out of desperation to get out of jail," said Lyver.
Statistics show the state’s pretrial-detention system falls hardest on people of color and low-income households.
