In response to the publication of CNN’s investigation, “Bailed out, arrested again,” Minnesota Freedom Fund co-executive directors Mirella Ceja-Orozco and Elizer Darris issued the following statement:
“The facts reported in the CNN story have already received intense public scrutiny, and Minnesota Freedom Fund has been transparent about how that scrutiny has shaped our internal practices and external communications.
The story’s only new contribution is its misleading reporting on the rate at which our clients fail to appear in court, which CNN calculated using incomplete public data that excludes more than a third of our clients who are acquitted or whose cases are ultimately dropped. As a result, the figure reported by CNN is double our actual rate.
Community bail funds exist to level the playing field in a racist, wealth-based system. If the cash bail system ceased to exist and freedom was no longer granted based on money alone, Minnesota Freedom Fund would happily close our doors.
In the meantime, our community deserves a balanced and honest picture. We hope to see future reporting about the roots of cash bail, jail conditions, the for-profit bail industry, and the wrongful mass incarceration of people who have not been convicted of a crime."
###