The cash bail system doesn’t keep people accused of crimes in jail; it keeps poor people accused of crimes in jail. 

Those who can afford to pay, get to go home.  Most often those jailed for lack of money to pay the bail bond are people of color.  While awaiting trial – often for months – they lose jobs and housing, and their relationships with family are strained or broken. 

We collaborate with North Carolina Interfaith Cash Bail Reform Committee (NC ICBRC); read more about their work in the Local Connections section below.

If working to reform the cash bail system sounds like you, get in touch.  We welcome your ideas and your talents.  Contact us at bbr.cucc@gmail.com.

For those needing assistance with bail

The Cash Bail Reform group does not have the resources to assist financially those who are seeking help with bail. If you live in Durham or Wake County and need assistance, contact the NC Community Bail Fund of Durham.

A prayer 

God, hold close those harmed by the cash bail system.  Help them find the resources they need, and mitigate the harm caused to them, their families and the community.

God, keep us committed to this work so that more people are not harmed by the cash bail system.

Community UCC Initiatives

A working group at Community United Church of Christ is leading our work to reform the current cash bail system as one of our economic justice and racial justice initiatives. We are founders of and collaborators with the North Carolina Interfaith Cash Bail Reform Committee (NC ICBRC) (read more in “Local Connections” below).

In 2019 the congregation passed a resolution to eliminate the racial and social injustices inherent in the cash bail system.  Our next steps were to take this resolution to our denomination, the United Church of Christ.   We took the resolution to the Southern Conference (UCC) Annual Gathering where they approved it unanimously.  We assisted the Southern Conference in bringing the resolution to the United Church of Christ at their 2021 General Synod where it passed.

In 2022 we hosted on our website the results of surveys of Wake County candidates on their detailed views of reform of the cash bail system.  That year we also gave a presentation at the Wild Goose Festival to people of faith from around the country, and worked with the NC Council of Churches to add work on cash bail reform to their priorities.  These were collaborative projects with NC ICBRC.

If this work sounds like you, get in touch.  We welcome your ideas and your talents.  bbr.cucc@gmail.com

Resolutions on cash bail bond reform

Community UCC commits

Southern Conference (UCC) commits 

United Church of Christ General Synod 33 commits  standard print   large print

Resources

Reform Bail Bond

Share these resources with friends using

https://tinyurl.com/UCC-BBR.

Contact us at

bbr.cucc@gmail.com.

North Carolina Interfaith Cash Bail Reform Committee (NC ICBRC)

NCICCBR is staffed by a group of Wake County church member volunteers who work on cash bail bond reform as educators and advocates. Starting as a “Do Justice” initiative in Community UCC in 2018, the group has expanded to include members from several other churches in Wake County and is now a project under the auspices of the NC Council of Churches.

Our goal is to build a multifaith, multicultural, diverse, community-led group which educates the public and decision makers as to the injustices of the present system, identifies proven alternatives and advocates for change. We believe people of faith, once they understand the current injustices, will be motivated to educate and advocate for reform in their local judicial district and statewide to replace for-profit cash bail with pretrial release programs and other alternatives which preserve public safety and do not incarcerate people simply because they cannot afford bail.

The immoral NC for-profit cash bail system extracts money from people while they await trial for low level, non-violent crimes, sometimes for weeks or months. It does not keep communities safer, cash bail is only intended to ensure people charged with a crime show up for their court date. People who are a threat to others can be detained without bail. Forcing people of low wealth to pay a non refundable fee to a bail bondsman for a low level crime just makes their lives harder and provides no benefit to the community. It is one reason jails are overcrowded and is the most expensive way to deal with nonviolent, low level offenders who represent the vast majority of people charged with a crime.

North Carolina Council of Churches

As part of the N.C. Bail Reform Working Group, the Council has created a network of faith leaders (lay and clergy) across the state who are taking a dual approach to cash bail. While working to educate the public and mobilize for policy change, they are also posting bail for those who qualify in order to mitigate the deleterious effects of the current system.

Read more here

View the approved resolution here

Benediction:  Mandate, Commissioning, and Prayer by Bill Gretsch

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Why get invested in reforming/abolishing cash bail bonding (data) by David Bland

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Guiding principles by David Bland

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What Community UCC is doing in North Carolina by Adrienne Little (2021)

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Pretrial Assessment Tools – a presentation to the community by Dr. Samantha Zottola, (January 9, 2022)

event description

Getting started in cash bail reform and beyond

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Dialog on a local church guide to initiating a cash bail bond reform effort by Diana Koenning and Gary Smith

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Scripture references

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Three NC localities’ cash bail reform accomplishments and initiatives by Diana Koenning and David Bland

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Helpful documents

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Educational Intensive presented at the UCC’s General Synod 33

View video here

How to get a fair hearing

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Artwork you can use – the Bail Bond Reform logo   

Download here

A dramatization of how the cash bail system works

“Cash Bail Bond Reform Sketch” by Community United Church of Christ  View video here

Presentation by Dr. Samantha Zottola, Postdoctoral Research Scholar, The Center for Family and Community Engagement, NCSU

“Hope for Pretrial Justice”  January 9, 2022

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Thinking about bail bond reform and racial justice intersectionality

Public Comment to the Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, April 21, 2023” from North Carolina Interfaith Cash Bail Reform Committee (NC ICBRC)

Make your own bail bond reform business card    here