Activists bail out strangers to free poor from jail

CHICAGO — Activists who say too many poor people are unfairly languishing in U.S. jails because they can’t afford to post cash bail are increasingly deploying a new tactic: bailing out strangers.

Community groups are collecting donations from individuals, churches, cities and other organizations in more than a dozen cities, including New York, Chicago, Seattle and Nashville, to bail out indigent prisoners.

The bail funds are a step toward a larger goal for some legal reform activists: abolishing the cash bail system.

The mother of two, who was in the midst of a divorce, said she ‘lost everything — my home, my car, my business, my credit, before the Chicago bond fund offered to get her out.

Mayes resolved her aggravated battery case a few months later and was sentenced to one day in prison, with credit for the 571 days already served.

Beth Chapman, president of the Professional Bail Agents of the United States and the star along with her husband of television’s “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” said the community groups mean well but don’t have the resources or expertise to ensure that freed prisoners don’t abscond or reoffend.